microDimensions Receives Series A Financing for Digital Pathology Solutions
microDimensions GmbH, a Munich-based software and service provider for digital pathology that specializes in automated image analysis raised a Series A financing round. The company’s unique image processing technology can significantly speed up and automate workflows in (pre-)clinical drug development studies and clinical diagnosis. A consortium of five investors, led by Business Angel Dr. Adriaan Hart de Ruijter and complemented by High-Tech Gründerfonds, Bayern Kapital and a group of business angels, provided a seven-digit investment to enable microDimensions to further extend its product portfolio.
The market for digital pathology is estimated to reach a market volume of 5.2 Billion USD up until 2020. “The main drivers for digitization are the stagnating number of pathologists and the high complexity of biomarker analysis. This increases the demand for efficient workflows and cost-effective solutions in the life science industry as well as clinical pathology institutions.” explains Dr. Martin Groher, CEO of microDimensions. “The fresh capital enables us to fully exploit the potential of state of the art technologies such as automated image analysis, big data and deep learning to develop software solutions that help our customers to find the right answers to major health threats such as cancer.”
microDimensions has successfully launched a series of software products that are used by major pharma, biotech, and medtech players, and various university pathology departments. The Series A funding will be used to further develop the product line for biomarker image analysis. Besides its standardized software solutions, microDimensions offers the development of custom applications as well as a range of image analysis services. “Many research organizations are pioneers in their field and their software requirements cannot be fulfilled with an off-the-shelf product. Based on the technology and in-house expertise microDimensions can provide them with tailored solutions and on demand image analysis services in exactly the way they need it.” says Dr. Adriaan Hart de Ruijter.
About microDimensions
microDimensions develops and distributes software for microscopic image processing and analysis. Their solutions and services can be tailored to individual requirements and seamlessly integrated into digital pathology workflows. microDimensions’ cutting-edge products Voloom®, Slidematch™, and Zoom are the world’s fastest tools for convenient and accurate 3D histology reconstruction, whole slide image alignment, stereology, and digital pathology viewing. They enable pharmaceutical and biotech companies to accelerate early drug testing and allow clinical and research organizations to gain new insights into cancer, multiple sclerosis, chronic infections, and other diseases.
About Bayern Kapital
Bayern Kapital GmbH, based in Landshut, was founded on the initiative of the Bavarian government in 1995. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Bavarian LfA Förderbank. As the venture capital organisation of the Land of Bavaria, Bayern Kapital provides equity capital financing for the founders of young innovative technology companies in Bavaria.
Presently Bayern Kapital manages eleven investment funds with a total volume of around €340m. So far, it has invested almost €227m in 245 innovative companies in the fields of technology in various sectors including life science, software & IT, medical technology, materials and new materials, nanotechnology and environmental technology.
In this way, almost 5000 long-term jobs in sustainable companies have been created in Bavaria.
About High-Tech Gründerfonds
High-Tech Gründerfonds invests in young, high potential high-tech start-ups. The seed financing provided is designed to enable start-ups to take an idea through prototyping and to market launch. Typically, High-Tech Gründerfonds invests EUR 600,000 in the seed stage, with the potential for up to a total of EUR 2 million per portfolio company in follow-on financing. Investors in this public/private partnership include the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy, the KfW Banking Group, as well as strategic corporate investors including ALTANA, BASF, Bayer, B. Braun, Robert Bosch, CEWE, Daimler, Deutsche Post DHL, Deutsche Telekom, Evonik, Lanxess, media + more venture Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG, METRO, Qiagen, RWE Innogy, SAP, Tengelmann and Carl Zeiss. High-Tech Gründerfonds has about EUR 576 million under management in two funds (EUR 272 million HTGF I, EUR 304 million HTGF II).
