Grenoble, France, 28 September, 2009 – CYTOO SA, a provider of innovative enabling technologies and products for high content cell analysis, today announced the closing of a second funding round of USD 4.7M (EUR 3.2M). New investor, Auriga Partners, led the round. An existing investor Jacques Lewiner, co-founder and president of the supervisory board at CYTOO, also took part.

CYTOO will use the financing to grow its business internationally, expand the team and further its research and development in an area that is attracting increasing scientific and industrial interest.
“We are very pleased to support CYTOO as it enters a new phase in its development,” says Franck Lescure, partner at Auriga Partners. “With products already commercially available and a promising technology, CYTOO is exactly the type of early stage life sciences company with strong market potential that we look to finance.”
“Auriga Partners is a well-respected investor with an excellent reputation for working alongside early stage life science companies,” says François Chatelain, co-CEO at CYTOO. “Their participation in this round validates our business model and confirms the potential of our technology.”
CYTOO develops, manufactures and sells products that control internal cell organization, making analysis more reliable. Leveraging its exclusive ownership of an adhesive micropatterning technology, Cytoo focuses on applications in cell based assays, high content analysis and cell screening for the life science research market. Cytoo’s main product, CYTOOchipsTM, is aimed at the scientific research market. Future products under development will target pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
CYTOO holds an exclusive worldwide license from the Institut Curie and the CNRS (The French national scientific research center) for the adhesive micropattern patent portfolio, as well as license agreements with Harvard University (USA) and CEA, the largest government-funded technological research organization in France.
“CEA Investissement has supported CYTOO since its creation and we are delighted to have Auriga Partners join us at this exciting phase in the company’s development,” added Celia Hart, investment manager at CEA Investissement and member of the supervisory board at CYTOO.