On Tuesday, Seattle-based biotech startup Lightspeed Microscopy announced that it raised $4 million in a Series A funding round led by Dynamk Capital. The company also added that more investors may join the funding round before it closes in mid-July.
Lightspeed Microscopy has built a platform that can create 3D renders of tissue samples on a sub-cellular level. The nondestructive technique uses a mix of chemistry, open-top light-sheet microscopy and cloud-based AI data analysis to provide high-resolution images. From there, the platform includes tools to help with tissue labeling, tissue clearing, high-throughput imaging, cloud-based processing and 3D digital analysis.
Tools like these are helpful for pathologists and researchers, who sometimes rely on sight to identify certain biological issues. But since these issues aren’t always apparent to the naked eye, using microscopes or microscopy technology can help uncover things at the cellular or sub-cellular level.
According to Lightspeed Microscopy, its technology can help speed up preclinical testing and improve its accuracy.
“The questions being asked in Pharma R&D departments are increasingly complex and often cannot be answered with traditional 2D pathology,” CEO Nicholas Reder, MD, MPH, said in a statement. “We provide our Pharma customers with novel biological insights using our patented 3D open-top light-sheet microscope combined with AI analysis. As we prepare for our next stage in growth, we are excited to partner with Dynamk Capital, a firm with extensive experience and a strong track record of helping promising life sciences tools companies reach their potential to transform the industry.”
Lightspeed Microscopy was founded in 2018 when it spun out of the University of Washington. This Series A round will help the company commercialize and scale its platform.
