News

Optics11 Life raises €5 million in funding for superior life science instruments

Funding will support expanded offerings for drug development, and regenerative medicine as fibre-optic instrument-maker broadens their presence in the life science market
The new investment will also bolster the leadership team and support U.S. expansion

AMSTERDAM, September 29, 2022 – Optics11 Life, the fibre optics life science instrumentation company, announced today €5 million in new venture capital from FORWARD.one and returning investor Value Creation Capital. The funding will support the rollout of new products applying Optics11 Life’s novel technology for experiments at scale requiring high-throughput screening of in vitro models and biomaterials.

“We’re firm believers in the power of innovative enabling technology to reshape a market and create new opportunities and fields. Optics11 Life exemplifies how the right team with the right domain expertise can execute a vision like this, and we’re excited to welcome the company to our portfolio,” said Robin van Boxsel, a partner at FORWARD.one.

“We have been fortunate to be part of very effective development of Optics11 over a relatively short period of time. In a rapidly changing world, we see tremendous benefit from the extraordinary engineering and marketing capabilities of Optics11 Life,” said Jos Bourgonje, managing partner of Value Creation Capital. “FORWARD.one will be a fantastic contributor to Optics11’s prosperous future.”

Fibre-optic technology has created new opportunities in drug development and regenerative medicine, building on new mechanobiology insights. Optics11 Life leverages its photonics expertise by enabling high throughput screening of the mechanical fingerprints of cells, tissues, and their microenvironment. This allows customers to capture a vast range of insights informing new therapeutic approaches that underpin personalized medicine, and for quality control in biomaterials for regenerative therapies. Pharma, biotech, and academic customers have already used Optics11 Life’s Piuma, Chiaro, and Pavone devices for applications including drug development, regenerative medicine, and diagnostics.

Enabling technology

“Through the support of FORWARD.one and Value Creation Capital, we’re readying the next generation of measurement instruments to enable new medical treatments and regenerative medicine breakthroughs,” said Niek Rijnveld, co-founder and CEO of Optics11 Life. “Our tools are already helping researchers examine the mechanobiological characteristics of heart disease, the tumour microenvironment, immune function and so much more. I can’t wait to see the next wave of insights we help unleash.”

As a part of this new investment, Rijnveld will shift from his split role overseeing both Optics11 Life and its sibling industrial sensing unit Optics11, and be dedicated full time to Optics11 Life. He will continue to build business across Europe and oversee an expanded presence in the United States, including new offices on the West Coast and expanding the sales team. Optics11 industrial sensing is the provider of fibre-optic sensing solutions that protect infrastructure in the most challenging environments.

About Optics11 Life

Optics11 Life develops the measurement instruments to drive the personalized medicine revolution. Optics11 Life uses unique fibre-optic sensing technology to address areas of high unmet need. The Pavone nanoindenter combines the power of high-throughput mechanical screening, incubation, and optical imaging for extended live-cell studies in near-physiological environments. Optics 11 Life is enabling 3D cell culture approaches that will power the discoveries unlocking precision medicine for everyone.

Optics11 was founded as a spin-off from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

To learn more about Optics11 Life, visit optics11life.com.