Funding supports expansion of manufacturing and commercial capacity for SemaCyte microcarrier platform

Cambridge, UK, 31 March 2026: Semarion, a University of Cambridge spin-out company from the Cavendish Laboratory combining materials engineering and cell biology to tackle unmet drug screening needs, today announced it has raised $3.8 million USD (£2.9 million GBP). The fundraise was led by Parkwalk, and joined by The FSE Group, Cambridge Enterprise Ventures, Oxford Innovation Finance, Found Capital, Cambridge Capital Group, and Start Codon. The investment will facilitate commercial expansion and scale manufacturing of the Company’s SemaCyte^® platform which enables adherent cell models to be handled as assay-ready, barcoded reagents for more flexible, data-rich, scalable drug discovery.

With a growing pipeline of opportunities and strong industry interest, Semarion is focused on broad-scale customer adoption, strengthening partnerships and preparing for its next phase of growth. The funding will be used to drive further commercialization of the SemaCyte platform, enabling the Company to increase manufacturing throughput and expand the field application support team.

Semarion’s technology has already been adopted by leading global pharmaceutical organizations, including top 10 pharma companies, across the US and Europe, with multiple pilot programs progressing towards broader commercial rollout. The Company has also established collaborations with global life science tools providers including Revvity, which has integrated compatibility for SemaCyte detection into its imaging and analysis platforms¹, and SPT Labtech, combining the microcarrier technology with SPT Labtech’s liquid handling platform to advance automated cell-based assay workflows².

This new funding is in addition to the Company’s $2.89 million USD Seed round, which was raised in 2022³.

John Pearson, Chief Investment Officer, Parkwalk, said: “Parkwalk is excited to be supporting the development of Semarion’s technology that has the potential to make a step change in cell-based research, accelerating a critical path in drug discovery. We are backing a team that has proven it can execute in delivering a product that works and can be adopted in customer workflows. This funding will allow Semarion to scale, reaching its full potential and creating value for investors and making a real-world impact.”

Karin Boettcher, Product Manager High-Content Screening, Revvity, commented: “Semarion’s approach aligns strongly with the industry’s growing demand for more scalable, information-rich cell-based workflows. Their unique use of optically barcoded cell microcarriers opens up exciting new possibilities for high-content screening and profiling, helping researchers generate richer datasets without sacrificing throughput. We have greatly enjoyed working with the Semarion team and look forward to continuing our collaboration to advance next-generation drug discovery workflows.”

Jeroen Verheyen, CEO and Co-Founder at Semarion, added: “This funding marks an important step as we scale to meet growing demand from the industry. Scientists are under increasing pressure to generate more cell-based data, improve automation and drive operational efficiency. SemaCytes enable them to do this within existing workflows and infrastructure, and we are now focused on translating that momentum into broader adoption.”

References:

1. Revvity expands SemaCyte multiplexing workflows across Harmony and Signals Image Artist
2. SPT Labtech and Semarion Collaborate to Advance Automated Cell-Based Assay Workflows
3. Semarion raises £2.14 million GBP ($2.89 million USD) seed funding

ENDS

About Semarion https://www.semarion.com/

Semarion is a University of Cambridge spin-out from the Cavendish Laboratory developing next-generation tools to accelerate cell-based drug discovery. Its proprietary SemaCyte^® platform turns adherent cells into barcoded, assay-ready, automation-friendly reagents, enabling researchers to multiplex cell models, increase throughput, and generate richer datasets using existing tools and workflows.

Semarion is combining materials engineering, microfabrication, and cell biology to remove bottlenecks in adherent cell assays and unlock 10x gains in data generation.

About Parkwalk https://parkwalk.vc/

Parkwalk is the UK’s most active investor in university spinouts, backing transformative technologies developed by the country’s leading universities and research organisations. Parkwalk focuses on investing in companies addressing real-world challenges with IP-protected innovations across a broad range of sectors, including life sciences, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, advanced materials, genomics, cleantech, future mobility, medtech, and big data.

As the leading growth EIS fund manager, with ?400 million in assets under management, Parkwalk has invested in over 200 companies through its Parkwalk Opportunities and Knowledge Intensive EIS Funds, as well as through enterprise and innovation funds managed for the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Bristol, and Imperial College. In 2025, Parkwalk introduced the Northern Universities Venture Fund, targeting opportunities emerging from the Universities of Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, and Sheffield.

In partnership with our parent company, IP Group, we are dedicated to unlocking the potential of UK university research, supporting businesses throughout their journey from spinout to scale-up and from laboratory to market.

About Revvity https://www.revvity.com/

At Revvity, “impossible” is inspiration, and “can’t be done” is a call to action. Revvity provides health science solutions, technologies, expertise, and services that deliver complete workflows from discovery to development, and diagnosis to cure. Revvity is revolutionizing what’s possible in healthcare, with specialized focus areas in translational multi-omics technologies, biomarker identification, imaging, prediction, screening, detection and diagnosis, informatics and more.

With 2025 revenue of $2.9 billion and approximately 11,000 employees, Revvity serves customers across pharmaceutical and biotech, diagnostic labs, academia and governments. It is part of the S&P 500 index and has customers in more than 160 countries.