- Investment will fund the global commercialization of Owlstone Medical’s Breath Biopsy® platform for early disease detection and precision medicine
- The first phase of the round, announced March 2018, raised $15 million (c.£11 million) and was led by Aviva Ventures and Horizons Ventures
- This second phase, attracting global interest and led by Horizons Ventures, raised a further $35 million (c.£27 million)
- Strategic investment was preferentially sought in the round to support global commercial and development activities
The round raised a total of $50 million (c.£38 million) inclusive of the previously announced $15 million (c.£11 million) on 5 March 2018, bringing the total raised by the Company to c.$73 million (c.£56 million) since founding in 2016.
As has been previously announced, the initial phase of this financing round was led by Aviva Ventures, the venture capital arm of Aviva plc, a global leader in insurance, and Horizons Ventures, the private investment arm of Mr. Li Ka-shing. The additional $35 million completion of the round was led by Horizons Ventures, joined by a group of highly regarded global strategic investors including Ventura Capital and Foxconn Technologies Group.
In this round, Owlstone Medical sought participation from organizations that in addition to capital investment would also be able to provide strategic support for the business. With these long-term investors now in place, the Company is in a position to benefit from improved access to key markets such as China, to clinical and academic researchers to support product development efforts, to high-quality manufacturing partners, and to additional international funding sources.
The funds have been raised to expand commercial opportunities in precision medicine including through the launch of targeted Breath Biopsy kits, and to enable further investment in the technology platform to support the development of additional high value applications.
Horizons Ventures’ Patrick Zhang commented: “Following our initial investment in Owlstone Medical, we have become further convinced that Breath Biopsy has the potential to transform the fields of early cancer detection and precision medicine in the years to come. We believe that Owlstone Medical is uniquely positioned to be able to facilitate this change and so have provided additional support to help realize this vision.”
Billy Boyle, co-founder and CEO at Owlstone Medical, said: “The closing of this round of financing marks a significant milestone for Owlstone Medical as it places us in a very secure financial position with a balance sheet sufficient to pursue all of our strategic commercial and development plans over the next several years, which we will execute through a combination of internal efforts and partnerships with industry leaders.
“We have been gratified by the high level of international interest we have received over the course of this raise, demonstrating that the need for improved diagnostic modalities that solve the challenges of early detection and precision medicine is global. We enjoyed particularly strong interest from Asian investors in the round, and as China is a key market for the Company we are encouraged by the strategic value of these partners as we seek to accelerate entry into this market.”
The Breath Biopsy Conference 2018 is Owlstone Medical's inaugural community meeting for breath researchers. www.owlstonemedical.com/about/events/breath-biopsy-conference-2018/