PARIS – White Fund SA, of Lièges, Belgium, secured $22 million for early stage financing of Belgian med-tech companies. “Our shareholders are investing in a specialized fund [that], beyond financial returns, [creates] expectations in terms of supporting the strong med-tech ecosystem in Belgium and advantages in terms of job creation,” explained Benoît Fellin, investment manager at Noshaq SA, manager of the White Fund.
TORONTO – Vancouver, British Columbia-based Aspect Biosystems Inc. has raised CA$26 million (US$20 million) in series A funding to help develop 3D bioprinter technology that uses the science of microfluidics to create fresh human tissue.
IDbyDNA Inc., a San Francisco-based metagenomics technology company, scooped up $20 million in series B financing in a round led by Artis Ventures. Genesys Capital and others participated in the round. The company plans to use the money to accelerate uptake of its Explify software platform.
HONG KONG – South Korea’s Genomictree Co. Ltd. has said its U.S. branch, Promis Diagnostics Inc., based in Pasadena, Calif., gained $30.8 million in funds this month. The Daejeon-based company has secured $40.8 million for its U.S. subsidiary since founding it in August 2019.
LONDON – Sequana Medical NV has raised €19 million (US$21 million) in a private placing to fund continuation of the U.S. pivotal trial of its Alfapump in treating ascites due to cirrhosis of the liver and a European trial of the device in heart failure patients who have stopped responding to diuretics.
Liquid biopsy startup Elypta AB has raised €6.1 million (US$6.72 million) in a late seed financing led by Industrifonden and Sciety. Norrsken Foundation’s newly launched €100 million “impact-first” fund also contributed to the round. The Stockholm-based company plans to use the money to complete development of laboratory kits and software for measurement and analysis of a panel of metabolites it has identified.
The final scorecard for med-tech IPOs in 2019 shows that Lake Forest, Calif.-based Inmode Ltd. performed the best since its August debut, while San Diego-based Guardion Health Sciences Inc. lost the most stock value during the year.