News 07.13.2009
Accuri Cytometers Completes $4 Million Series D Financing
Funds Will Provide Additional Working Capital to Support Strong Market Demand for Accuri C6 Flow Cytometer® System and Accuri CSampler™
ANN ARBOR, MI, July 13, 2009 – Accuri Cytometers, Inc. today announced the completion of a $4 million Series D financing. The financing included current investors Fidelity Biosciences, Flagship Ventures, Baird Venture Partners and Arboretum Ventures, as well as the InvestMichigan! Program co-managed by Credit Suisse. Accuri will use the proceeds from the Series D financing to provide additional working and growth capital to support the rapid market acceptance of the Accuri C6 Flow Cytometer® System, a revolutionary product designed to bring the power of flow cytometry analysis to the laboratory of every life science researcher, and the recently introduced Accuri CSampler™, an optional accessory that adds user-friendly automation to the C6 system.
“With our first two products experiencing rapid market acceptance and our European operations newly underway, we have secured additional capital to build out our manufacturing and customer support capabilities in Michigan and to continue to expand our commercial presence globally,” said Jennifer Baird, CEO of Accuri. “In these challenging times, we are gratified that all of our existing investors chose to participate in the Series D financing at a higher valuation. We are especially pleased that the InvestMichigan! Program, co-managed by Credit Suisse and championed by Governor Jennifer Granholm, became a significant new investor.”
Explicitly designed for routine use by biomedical researchers in their own labs, Accuri’s flow cytometer is a full-featured bench-top cell analysis system that provides capabilities similar to industry-leading flow cytometers in a more user-friendly format and at a fraction of the cost. The newly introduced CSampler makes the Accuri C6 Flow Cytometer suitable for high throughput applications, further extending its potential market reach.
“Customer response in the Accuri C6 Flow Cytometer’s first year on the market has exceeded our expectations for this revolutionary product,” said Harry Wilcox, Partner at Flagship Ventures and a Director of Accuri. “Current investors welcomed the opportunity to provide additional capital to help fuel the company’s accelerating growth and we are pleased that a new investor, the InvestMichigan! Program, participated in the financing.”
Accuri user Steven McClellan, Senior Biological Scientist at the Flow Cytometry Core Laboratory at the University of Florida, notes, “The Accuri C6 is a transformative product, providing high performance flow cytometry in an affordable, easy-to-use format that makes it accessible to almost all researchers. And the story gets even better. In recent toxicity studies that relied on the system’s uniquely wide dynamic range, our lab was able to conduct experiments that previously had not been successful using a traditional cytometer available in our core facility. Affordable and accessible, and with improved capabilities, too!”
About Accuri Cytometers
Accuri Cytometers, Inc. is a life sciences company developing and marketing revolutionary high performance cell analysis systems designed to bring the power of flow cytometry into the labs of life science researchers everywhere. Reflecting the input of hundreds of researchers, the Accuri C6 Flow Cytometer® is a full-featured bench-top cell and bead analysis system that provides similar capabilities to those of industry-leading flow cytometers in an easy-to-use format and at a fraction of their cost. The Accuri system was engineered from the start to be compact, powerful and user-friendly, while also being affordable by most research laboratories. The Accuri CSampler™ adds simple, reliable and user-friendly automation to the Accuri C6 Flow Cytometer System. For more information, please visit www.accuricytometers.com.
About Credit Suisse
As one of the world's leading banks, Credit Suisse provides its clients with private banking, investment banking and asset management services worldwide. Credit Suisse offers advisory services, comprehensive solutions and innovative products to companies, institutional clients and high-net-worth private clients globally, as well as retail clients in Switzerland. Credit Suisse is active in over 50 countries and employs approximately 46,700 people. Credit Suisse is comprised of a number of legal entities around the world and is headquartered in Zurich. The registered shares (CSGN) of Credit Suisse's parent company, Credit Suisse Group AG, are listed in Switzerland and, in the form of American Depositary Shares (CS), in New York. Further information about Credit Suisse can be found at www.credit-suisse.com.
About Fidelity Biosciences
Fidelity Biosciences is a division of Devonshire Investors, which invests private equity on behalf of Fidelity Investments. For more than 30 years, the firm has had a significant presence in the venture capital and private equity industry. This provides Fidelity Biosciences with the flexibility, and capabilities of traditional venture capital firms while eliminating the additional pressures of fundraising. The result is a clear focus on building long-term value. For more information, please visit www.fidelitybiosciences.com.
About Flagship Ventures
Flagship Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on creating, financing and building innovative companies. Founded in 2000, Flagship manages over $600 million in early-stage funds and operates from its offices at Kendall Square in Cambridge, MA. With an active portfolio of over 40 companies, the firm’s strategy is to balance its investments across three principal business sectors: Therapeutics, Life Science Tools & Diagnostics, and BioEnergy/Cleantech. During the past two decades Flagship's principals have been involved as founders or investors in many highly successful ventures including: Adnexus Therapeutics, Alere Medical, Aspect Medical, Celera Genomics, ChemGenics Pharmaceuticals, Color Kinetics, Cytyc, Helicos Biosciences, Hypnion, IDEXX, Morphotek, PerSeptive Biosystems and TripAdvisor. For more information, please visit www.flagshipventures.com.
About Baird Venture Partners
Baird Venture Partners, the U.S.-based venture capital fund of Baird Private Equity, makes venture capital investments in early and expansion stage business services and life sciences companies. Baird Venture Partners leverages its in-depth sector knowledge, experienced investment team and network of relationships to serve as a value-added partner for its portfolio companies. For more information, please visit www.bairdventurepartners.com.
About Arboretum Ventures
Arboretum Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm specializing in the healthcare sector. Arboretum Ventures focuses primarily on investments in medical technology and healthcare services. Arboretum invests throughout the United States, with a special interest in the Midwest region. Founded in 2002 with headquarters in Ann Arbor, Mich., Arboretum Ventures currently manages $97 million in capital. For more information, please visit www.arboretumvc.com.
Contacts:
Accuri Cytometers
Jennifer A. Baird
Chief Executive Officer
(734) 994-8000
Media
GendeLLindheim BioCom Partners
Jennifer Anderson
(212) 918-4642