The Leiden-based biotech startup Toxys received a “substantial amount” of series A funding from Zeeuws Investment Fund (ZIF) and InnovationQuarter. Toxys will be using the investment to further expand their business, to market their current testing technology and to develop new tests.
Toxys is a spin-off from the Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC). The startup, founded in 2014 by scientist Giel Hendriks, is specialized in testing which quickly and reliably can identify the main carcinogenic properties of new substances. Easily said: the company can predict if something can cause cancer.
The showpiece of Toxys is ToxTracker, a stem cell-based test that can be used in several industries. However the industry is experiencing limitations with tests that are required in the legislation, and it happens far too frequently that a substance is wrongly classified as being either safe or harmful. As a result, unnecessary investments are made in harmful substances, and the development of valuable drug candidates is terminated improperly.
Toxys investment
Although the deal size was undisclosed, senior investment manager of InnovationQuarter Martien Kuunders told StartupJuncture it was “a substantial amount”. InnovationQuarter usually invests up to 2.5 million euro, and ZIF invests from 400.000 up to 1 million euro. “We didn’t invest the maximum amount, we left room for a possible follow-up investment.”