Reinnervate raises £1.6M for 3D cell culture technology

Funding

Durham University spin-out Reinnervate Ltd has raised £1.6 million in a round led by the public venture fund NorthStar Equity Investors, which invested £500,000, with the remainder coming from private investors.

The company develops new ways to manage the growth and function of cultured cells that are particularly relevant to the control of stem cell differentiation and engineering tissues in cell culture.

NorthStar has supported the company throughout its growth with investments in 2008 and 2009 through its Co-Investment Fund. This further investment of £500,000 through the North East Accelerator Fund will help the company commercialise its first product, scale up production and move from Durham University to facilities in the NETPark Business Incubator, County Durham.

CEO Ashley Cooper said, “Seed and other early stage funding is almost impossible to secure in the current climate and without the early support that we received in the north east region our innovative cell culture technologies would never have reached the market.”