The Engine has returned once more to back a $30m round for Kytopen, having first invested in the MIT spinout in 2017.

Kytopen, a US-based engineered cell therapies technology spinout of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), picked up $30m in a series A round featuring Harvard University and MIT-backed incubator and venture fund The Engine. Northpond Ventures led the oversubscribed round, which additionally attracted Horizons Ventures, Mass Ventures and Alexandria Venture Investments, a unit of life sciences real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities, as well as private investors Michael Chambers and John Ballantyne. Founded in 2017, Kytopen is working on scalable technology that enables the non-viral manufacturing of cell therapies in a matter of days rather than the weeks required by current methods. The series A capital has been allocated to accelerating partnerships that will allow Kytopen to enter the clinic and speeding up commercialisation activities. Adam Wieschhaus, director at Northpond Ventures, will join the Kytopen board of directors, joining Theresa Tribble, venture partner at The Engine, and Kytopen co-founders Paulo Garcia and Cullen Buie. Kytopen previously raised $3.1m towards a $4m target in November 2020, according to a regulatory filing. The Engine participated in a seed round in 2019, which a press release said was worth $3.6m but a concurrent securities document indicated the figure was almost $4.4m. Horizons Ventures and unnamed angel investors also took part in that round. Kytopen was one of the first seven spinouts to receive money from The Engine in 2017, although the size of the investment remains undisclosed.

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Thierry Heles

Thierry Heles is the editor of Global University Venturing, host of the Beyond the Breakthrough interview podcast and responsible for the monthly GUV Gazette (sign up here for free).