CryoCloud, a Utrecht-based biotech startup, has announced securing €500,000 in a pre-seed funding round. The investment was led by Nina Capital, with significant contributions from Utrecht Health Seed Fund and ROM Utrecht Region. This capital infusion will accelerate the company’s growth, forge partnerships with leading companies and key opinion leaders, and expand the capabilities of its platform to better support scientists and streamline data analysis.
CryoCloud has developed a proprietary data analysis platform for cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), enabling the fast and scalable determination of 3D protein structures critical for drug discovery. Addressing the high costs, complexity, and inefficiencies associated with traditional cryo-EM compute infrastructure, CryoCloud’s cloud-based platform offers scalable cloud storage and data analysis workflows through a user-friendly web app, making advanced research tools more accessible to scientists worldwide.
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A Vision for Accessible and Efficient Research
Robert Englmeier, CEO of CryoCloud, highlighted the significant evolution of cryo-EM in the last six years and the unchanged data analysis process, leading to bottlenecks and creating entrance barriers. “Our mission is to make cryo-EM more accessible and to streamline the research process, which is now possible with our platform,” Englmeier stated.
Founded in 2021 by Robert Englmeier, Ilja Gubins, and Boy Persoon, CryoCloud aims to democratize access to cryo-EM analysis, facilitating breakthroughs in structural biology and beyond. The company’s cloud-based data analysis platform is accessible via a subscription-based web application and is used globally by scientists at universities, biotechs, and cryo-EM facilities.
Backed by Specialized Investors
Nina Capital, a specialized venture capital firm investing exclusively at the intersection of healthcare and technology, led the funding round. Marta-Gaia Zanchi, Founder & Managing Partner at Nina Capital, praised CryoCloud’s innovative approach to leveraging cloud technology in cryo-EM as a major step for structural biology and a testament to the transformative power of digital solutions in the life sciences sector.
Utrecht Health Seed Fund (UHSF), an early-stage life sciences & health investment fund, also expressed enthusiasm for investing in CryoCloud’s solutions to make the complex and costly process of CryoEM analysis more accessible to researchers. “Their platform has the potential to greatly expand the use of CryoEM in the life sciences,” said Timo Koopmans, Investment Manager at UHSF.
With this pre-seed funding, CryoCloud is well-positioned to further its mission of making cryo-EM analysis more accessible and efficient, contributing to the advancement of scientific research and drug discovery.
