Microchip Biotechnologies, inc. Completes Series A Financing Round and Announces Development Agreement
August 30, 2006
Microchip Biotechnologies, Inc., (MBI), today announced the completion of its Series A investment round. $4.5 million in total funding was secured, which includes equity and amounts based on further product development components. The round was co-led by In-Q-Tel, the independent strategic venture capital fund that identifies innovative technologies to support the missions of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the larger Intelligence Community, and RONA Syndicates LLC, a privately held Silicon Valley-based venture investment group. MBI is focused on commercializing products based on a patent-pending Microscale On-chip ValveTM (MOVTM) nanofluidic platform.
“The strategic investment by In-Q-Tel is a significant validation of MBI’s MOVTM technology and our goal to leverage this platform in field-portable, integrated solutions,” said Dr. Stevan Jovanovich, President and CEO of MBI. “We are delighted to secure the Series A funding that will enable us to bring our first microchip-based products to market.”
The proceeds will accelerate the development efforts of MBI’s first commercial products, develop portable forensics devices for DNA typing, and fund the critical infrastructure necessary for rapid prototyping and manufacturing of nanofluidic microchips.
“MBI is developing a breakthrough nanofluidic platform that may ultimately transform many integrated solutions that are integral to today’s large laboratory-based systems,” said Scott Yancey, President and CEO of In-Q-Tel. “MBI’s technology also has the potential to create a tipping point in the development of field-portable integrated solutions and next-generation laboratory instrumentation, providing high value technology solutions for both federal and commercial markets.”
About Microchip Biotechnologies
Microchip Biotechnologies, Inc. is an early-stage, privately-held company located in Dublin, California that is developing advanced nanofluidic sample preparation and analysis instrumentation for the genomics, biodefense, and forensics markets. These solutions are based on MBI’s proprietary NanoBioProcessor™ platform and associated ‘Microscale-on-Chip Valves™’ (MOV™) technology. More details can be found on the company’s website: www.microchipbiotech.com. .
About RONA Syndicates LLC
RONA Syndicates LLC is a privately held, Silicon Valley-based venture investment group. The RONA investment team also invested in ParAllele Biosciences, a genotyping company acquired by Affymetrix in 2005 and most recently in NextBio, a Life Sciences Bioinformatics company.