Microbiological labelling system developer C4 Diagnostics, which is partly based on Aix-Marseille Université research, has been backed by investors including Bpifrance.
C4Diagnostics, a France-based microbiological diagnostics spinout of Aix-Marseille Université and government research institute Centre national de la recherche scientifique, today secured €1.5m ($1.7m) in funding.
The round included a loan from government-owned investment bank Bpifrance, as well as funding from regional co-investment funds Paca Investissement and Rhône-Alpes Viveris Venture Creation, and a number of angel investors.
Founded in May 2017, C4Diagnostics is developing in vitro diagnostic applications that will enable clinical microbiologists to evaluate certain infectious diseases.
The systems work by labelling microorganisms present within each sample to fulfil diagnostic tasks such as testing for susceptibility to antibiotics. C4Diagnostics licensed patents for its technology through regional tech transfer office Satt Sud-Est.
C4Diagnostics plans to launch its first product for Legionnaires’ disease, a serious form of pneumonia, by the end of 2018. It will put the cash towards further development programs and expects to hire three to seven additional staff.
The spinout received $127,300 upon launching in May 2017 in a round backed by friends and family of its founding team. It joined the ZeLab accelerator run by biopharmaceutical services provider Cisbio in October that year.
