North West finance firm part of £15m fund raise for biotech start-up
Haydock-based financial firm Seneca Partners has taken part in a £15m Series A fund raise for biotech start-up SolasCure.
The investment will support the development of its wound cleaning product, Aurase.
The Cambridge based biotech company has successfully completed its Series A raise of £15m, with funding from industry veterans, institutional venture and strategic investors.
SolasCure is developing proprietary technology leveraging biomimicry and evidence-based medicine to empower health care professionals to treat patients with chronic wounds.
Its first investigational product, Aurase, is a hydrogel containing an enzyme cloned from medical maggots that can be used to support healthcare professionals treating patients with chronic wounds.
Dr Sam Bakri, founder and CEO of SolasCure, said: “We are delighted to have completed our Series A round, which will help us to move onto the clinical trial stages of product development.
“We are excited to be working with such knowledgeable and specialist investors, as they join us on our mission to support healthcare professionals with wound care products that significantly improve the health and wellbeing of patients with chronic wounds.”
The raise began with investment from BRAIN Biotech AG, which is SolasCure’s largest shareholder.
Adriaan Moelker, chief executive of BRAIN Biotech AG, said: “It has been an encouraging sign for all partners that SolasCure has been able to successfully close another financing round with rising pre-money valuation during the pandemic.
“We continue to be committed to support SolasCure on its way to market for the innovative wound debridement enzyme Aurase.”
The round was completed following investment by Seneca Partners. Matt Currie, investment director at Seneca, said: “We are delighted to support SolasCure as part of this latest funding round.
“The team they have brought together are truly world class, producing ground-breaking work in the wound care sector.
“Practitioners are crying out for a high quality solution that can be transported, stored and administered in an efficient and effective way, something severely lacking in the treatments available at present.”
He added: “We believe SolasCure’s Aurase product has the potential to become the go-to solution in this space.”
In addition to the investments from BRAIN Biotech AG and Seneca Partners, other notable investors to date include Bionova Capital, experienced entrepreneur and life sciences angel investor Jonathan Milner – founder of Abcam – strategic investor EVA Pharma, the Development Bank of Wales, as well as François Fournier, former lead of Smith & Nephew’s Advanced Wound Care division.
The GS Verde Group acted as advisors to the fundraise.
