Hercules Technology Growth Capital, a finance company providing venture debt and equity to venture capital and private equity-backed technology and life science companies, has committed to provide Labcyte with USD5.5m in credit facilities.
“Hercules believes the life science research and development market presents a huge opportunity for Labcyte. In 2008, the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries spent approximately USD65.2bn on R&D activities,” says Kathy Conte, managing director of life sciences at Hercules. “The unique Labcyte technology, as embodied in their Echo liquid handlers, coupled with their solid business plan and strong management team, makes the company a welcome addition to our portfolio of companies that are positioned for success.”
Mark D. Fischer-Colbrie, president and chief executive officer of Labcyte, adds: “Labcyte acoustic liquid handling is the game-changing technology adopted by pharmaceutical companies around the world because it significantly improves the possibility of successful drug discovery while dramatically reducing expenses. Our approach has rapidly gained acceptance, allowing us to enjoy significant revenue growth. This technology is being implemented in a wide variety of applications, including those in disease screening, genomics, diagnostics, proteomics, and mass spectroscopy imaging.”
