NanoSight
Limited, the nanoparticle characterization company, is excited to announce
the completion of a new round of financing which will provide £925,000
to enable the company to expand the business with the development of new products
and sales channels in the US market.
NanoSight has just closed almost £1m of investment finance in a month
that has seen unprecedented financial turmoil worldwide. Having been close to
breakeven for the first half of 2008, hitting sales targets and with margins
better than anticipated, it was clear to the company that growth was limited
by resource but not by market opportunity. Having successfully weathered the
start-up process during the past four years, NanoSight can become more robust
with investment in personnel, technical support and development of the underlying
technology.
CEO, Jeremy Warren, comments “I am just delighted to have closed this
round at the right price and at a time when finance is becoming so much harder
to obtain. We have raised more than twice the minimum we had set for ourselves,
and this offers us a good degree of freedom. Our principal investment opportunities
are in development of next-generation NanoSight instruments and expansion of
our operations in the USA. Success to date has come from a unique technology
that allows the analysis of our customers’ products on a particle-by-particle
basis rather than relying on an ensemble or averaged measurement. As the scope
of our technology deepens, we can provide more and more information in bio-nano
applications, where complexity is inherent and multi-parameter analysis addresses
these needs. We have existing users directing us towards a range of molecular
diagnostics applications, with eventual point-of-care use of NanoSight technology
being a credible goal. Success in these areas would increase the market opportunity
for NanoSight by orders of magnitude, far beyond that of particle characterization.
Our approach using Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis provides nanoscience researchers
with powerful information to better design products. The systems we shall produce
over the coming year will go much further in the additional independent variables
they can measure, and, once again, particle–by-particle.”
“The US market remains a big opportunity, despite recessional pressures.
The combination of a valued technology with clear blue water developing between
us and the nearest competitive technologies coupled with attractive price-points
mean we are well-positioned to win orders in these difficult times.”
Significant participants in this round included Bristol-based funder Rowan-Dartington
and London Capital Investment Partners, a group of sophisticated individual
investors and private family offices. Rowan-Dartington Chief Executive Jonathan
Beatson-Hird commented “We are delighted to be co-investing with management
in NanoSight, a successful British based cutting edge technology company. We
believe that NanoSight’s innovative product range will have wide ranging
commercial applications in the growing nanoparticle market. Since 2002, Bob
Carr and his team have designed and developed a number of unique and robust
instruments which provide precise nanoparticle tracking analysis, filling a
void which has until now been an inhibitor to the growth of this exciting market.”
London Capital Investment Partners Chairman Richard Lesmoir-Gordon explained
“NanoSight represents opportunity for our partners to gain direct exposure
to a ground-breaking science and its commercial applications”.
Scientific advisor to investors, Professor Tony Atkinson said “NanoSight's
science provides a unique method of detecting and analyzing nano-particles,
giving analytical data not previously available. This cutting edge technology
addresses a large and growing market. The capability to detect and analyze biological
nanoparticles provides the means to address a number of new markets in the diagnostic
space.”