VitriCell closes financing round and gets ready to launch products

A series A round of fundraising totalling over €1 million has been closed by VitriCell, a biotech company, which will enable the launch of products based on a new cell cryopreservation method, aseptic vitrification.

The company reports that from February it will offer a product that vitrifies embryos in a single 60-second step, thanks to the funds raised. Additionally, it will use some of the money to invest in R&D for innovative products adapted to different sectors of the growing cell cryopreservation market. This single-step technology, adapted to handle cells by the million, is currently undergoing validation on human cells.

“Since late 2013, the start of the FIRST Spin-off programme, VitriCell has been able to exceed all milestones, which led to the creation of the company in June 2017. This is thanks to the support of the Walloon Region, the University of Liège and the WBC incubator, as well as the vision and personal commitment of the founders,” explained Delphine Connan, CEO and co-founder of VitriCell. “This first round of fundraising will enable us to move into the commercialisation phase and continue the development of our products.”

A group of investors comprising Spinventure SA, Gesval, private investors including Jean-Pierre Delwart and members of the Be Angels network contributed equity capital of €712,000 in this financing round. Additional money came in the form of grants and loans from the Walloon Region and the WBC incubator.

“We are very pleased to be involved in the fundraising round for VitriCell, a company that has proven itself in developing innovative technology in the field of Medically Assisted Procreation (MAP),” said Marc Foidart, chief executive at Spinventure and vice director at Meusinvest.

“The cryopreservation market is booming; there are numerous potential applications,” added Claire Munck, CEO and director of Be Angels.