Cambridge, UK: Qkine, an o2h Ventures portfolio company that produces high purity, animal free-growth factors, cytokines, and other complex proteins, closed its oversubscribed funding round at £4.3 million. The investors included o2h Ventures, Parkwalk , Downing, and Cambridge Angels.
Qkine combines proprietary protein production process development with protein engineering techniques to develop unique and exceptionally high-purity products that tackle fundamental biological and scale-up challenges for the fast-growing stem cell, organoid, regenerative medicine, and cellular agriculture sectors.
The funding round will enable the company to expand its research work with the new state of the art facility in Cambridge. Additionally, it will enable them to grow their company internationally and meet demand on a worldwide scale.
Catherine Elton, CEO of Qkine, said:
“We’re delighted that o2h Ventures, an existing investor of Qkine, have supported the latest funding round. Their deep biotechnology sector expertise, network, and the community they have built around the o2h portfolio companies have been a source of support during the early stages of our growth and will play an important role in helping us achieve scale and maximise international opportunities. This is an exciting time for the company as we build our team and establish our new HQ and manufacturing facility to facilitate our next phase of rapid growth, the relationships with our valued investors and advisors, like the o2h team, helps make the journey thoroughly enjoyable.”
Sunil Shah, CEO of o2h Ventures, said:
We are excited to continue to back Qkine, a business in which we participated in the seed round and now continue to back as they scale into their A round. An exciting, growing business targeting and expanding customer base with an amazing CEO and team.
About Qkine
Qkine manufactures high-purity, animal-free growth factors, cytokines, and other complex proteins for life science applications including stem cell and organoid culture. Based in Cambridge, UK, Qkine combines proprietary production processes with protein engineering technology to tackle fundamental biological, quality and scale-up challenges to provide more reliable tools for research and bio-manufacturing.
Qkine is an ISO 9001:2015 certified company with an established global distribution network. Please visit qkine.com for more information or follow us on LinkedIn for the latest company updates.
About o2h Ventures
The o2h Ventures ‘Human Health’ SEIS and Knowledge Intensive (KI) funds make tax-efficient investments in Pre-Seed and Seed stage companies that address human disease. The main focus of the investments is on the development of novel therapeutic treatments with a clear path to the clinic.
The o2h team are leaders in the biotech community and have been actively involved as investors, holding various board/industry positions as well as being engaged in grassroots scientific activity for over 20 years. o2h Ventures operates from their proprietary 2.7 acre Mill SciTech Park where they are developing a unique model for incubating small life science companies.
For more information or to invest in the fund, please visit.
Media Contact:
Juhi Shah
Marketing Manager
o2h Ventures
