Best Life Sciences Platforms and Tools Companies in Cambridge, United Kingdom
The 69 best Life Sciences Platforms and Tools companies in Cambridge, United Kingdom in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: Bit.bio.
Our analysis of 50 Life Sciences Platforms and Tools companies
$4.8b in tracked funding; 68% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2025.
Ranked: Best Life Sciences Platforms and Tools companies in Cambridge
| # | Company | Disclosed funding | Last round | Employees | Founder | Tech stack | Patents & IP focus | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bit.bio Manufacturer of programmed human cells for research and drug discovery 74Growth top 17%Funding top 23%News top 29%Moat top 31% All 9 signals ▾Growthtop 17% Fundingtop 23% Newstop 29% Moattop 31% Fin. healthtop 38% Talenttop 38% Markettop 44% Techbottom 48% Globalbottom 39% Growth: Headcount 13 → 52 (+300%) across vintages · Revenue +41% YoY Funding: Raised $186M across 7 rounds · 7 rounds over 9 yrs (0.8/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 74/100 | $186M | 5 mo ago | 52 | Mark Kotter Co-Founder | Cart FunctionalityHubSpot CMS HubApple iCloud Mail+20 | — | 3 launchs |
| 2 | Nuclera Provider of rapid protein expression and screening systems for biotechnology labs 72Patents top 15%Innovation top 17%Funding top 26%Moat top 26% All 11 signals ▾Patentstop 15% Innovationtop 17% Fundingtop 26% Moattop 26% Growthtop 27% Talenttop 38% Techtop 42% Fin. healthtop 44% Newsbottom 44% Globalbottom 44% Marketbottom 40% Patents: 140 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 140 filings since 2022 vs 0 in 2017-21 Innovation: 140 patents (top 20% of patent-holders) · 140 filings since 2022 vs 0 in 2017-21 rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 72/100 | $164M | 6 mo ago | 26 | Michael Chen Co-Founder & CEO | Cart FunctionalityWordPressApple iCloud Mail+34 | 140 patents Digital microfluidic bioassays and protein engineering platforms for high‑throughput analysis | 2 job openings |
| 3 | Abcam Developer of biological reagents for life science research | $79M | 85 mo ago | 1,587 1,587 → 1,879 (+18%) · sector median +18% | Tony Kouzarides Co-Founder | Cart FunctionalityApple iCloud MailNode.js+28 | 39 patents Recombinant rabbit monoclonal antibodies for epigenetic (m6A) detection | — |
| 4 | Phoremost Developer of a phenotypic screening platform for drug target discovery | $77M | 21 mo ago | 32 32 → 33 (+3%) · sector median +18% | Chris Torrance Founder & Chair at PhoreMost Ltd | ZURB FoundationApache HTTP ServerjQuery+6 | 32 patents Discovery of peptide binders to ubiquitin E3 ligases and VCP inhibition | — |
| 5 | SDI Group The SDI Group designs, builds and supports automated materials handling systems for retail distribution… | $63M | 78 mo ago | — | Michael Creedon CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+25 | — | — |
| 6 | Sphere Fluidics Developer of Single-cell analysis systems for biologics discovery | $57M | 55 mo ago | 29 | — | — | 114 patents Microfluidic droplet generation and manipulation for high-throughput biological assays. | — |
| 7 | Lightcast Developer of single-cell functional analysis using a droplet-based platform 35Funding top 28%Growth top 36%Talent top 38%Moat bottom 48% All 8 signals ▾Fundingtop 28% Growthtop 36% Talenttop 38% Moatbottom 48% Techbottom 46% Globalbottom 39% Marketbottom 30% Fin. healthbottom 22% Funding: Raised $49.0M across 7 rounds · 7 rounds over 3 yrs (2.3/yr) Growth: Headcount 10 → 25 (+150%) across vintages · Revenue -5% YoY rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 35/100 | $49M | 2 mo ago | 25 | Cameron Frayling Founder | WebflowReactTermly+10 | — | — |
| 8 | Horizon Discovery Developer of cell lines with genetic modification using AAV gene-editing platform | $46M | 93 mo ago | 432 | Alberto Bardelli Co-Founder | Cart FunctionalitySitecoreSalesforce+29 | 46 patents Patents concentrated in chemistry & materials | — |
| 9 | CN Bio Develops organ-on-a-chip platforms for drug discovery | $45M | 26 mo ago | 33 33 → 59 (+79%) · sector median +18% | Paul Brooks Chief Executive Officer | WordPress Block EditorWordPressMySQL+31 | — | — |
| 10 | Fluidic Analytics Develops microfluidic-based tools for protein characterization | $40M | 71 mo ago | 81 | Tuomas Knowles Founder & CSO | WordPressZohoMySQL+27 | 84 patents Microfluidic analytical devices for biomolecular/component detection and immunity profiling | — |
| 11 | Base4 Microdroplet-based single molecule sequencing technology | $25M | 103 mo ago | 16 | — | WordPress Block EditorWordPressMySQL+14 | — | — |
| 12 | Takeda Cambridge A Takeda Subsidiary in UK with a diverse pipeline of novel drug targets and compounds. | $22M | 239 mo ago | — | John Montana CEO | — | 56 patents Small-molecule receptor antagonists for LPA, orexin, prokineticin, diabetes, obesity, IBD | — |
| 13 | Population Genetics Developing and out-licensing biochemical tools and approaches for NGS applications | $18M | 175 mo ago | 5 | Sam Eletr Co-Founder & Chairman | — | 116 patents Advanced DNA sequencing library prep, normalization, and high‑sensitivity variant detection | — |
| 14 | PredictImmune Developer of tools for diagnosing immune-mediated inflammatory diseases | $18M | 82 mo ago | 15 | — | — | — | — |
| 15 | ProteinLogic Biomarker discovery and exploitation platform | $11M | 29 mo ago | — | Nicolas Huber CEO | — | 14 patents Discovery and application of protein biomarkers for disease diagnosis, notably tuberculosis. | — |
| 16 | Axol Bioscience Provider of human cells, reagents, and reprogramming services 48Growth top 34%Funding top 38%Moat top 39%Tech top 44% All 8 signals ▾Growthtop 34% Fundingtop 38% Moattop 39% Techtop 44% Talentbottom 49% Globalbottom 43% Marketbottom 38% Newsbottom 27% Growth: Headcount 24 → 29 (+21%) across vintages · 1 acquisition/expansion move in 24 mo Funding: Raised $10.5M across 9 rounds · 9 rounds over 12 yrs (0.8/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 48/100 | $10M | 5 mo ago | 29 29 → 61 (+110%) · sector median +18% | Liam Taylor CEO | Cart FunctionalityWooCommerceWordPress+27 | — | 1 award |
| 17 | Camena Bioscience Developer of a nucleic acid synthesis technology platform | $10M | 35 mo ago | 4 | Steve Harvey Co-Founder & CEO | HubSpot CMS HubHubSpotcore-js+11 | 39 patents Patents concentrated in chemistry & materials | — |
| 18 | Qkine Developer of animal-free growth factors for life science applications | $8M | 42 mo ago | 15 | — | Cart FunctionalityWooCommerceWordPress+32 | — | — |
| 19 | BioSilta EnPresso growth systems to increase yield of recombinant proteins from microbial cultures. | $3M | 144 mo ago | 11 | — | — | 2 patents Supplying growth factors to cell cultures for biomanufacturing | — |
| 20 | Somaserve Developer of cell imaging and bio nanoparticles | $3M | 64 mo ago | 5 | Francesca Crawford CEO | — | — | — |
| 21 | Semarion Provider of a platform for drug discovery and screening | $3M | 2 mo ago | 3 | Jeroen Verheyen Co-Founder & CEO | WordPressMySQLPHP+13 | 4 patents Patents concentrated in computing, sensing & instrumentation | — |
| 22 | Abselion Provider of a benchtop instrument for protien research | $3M | 19 mo ago | 10 | Ruizhi Wang Founder & CEO | — | — | — |
| 23 | ZOMP Developer of 3D imaging cell sorting device | $2M | 36 mo ago | 3 | Gillies Kleboe Co-Founder | — | — | 1 launch |
| 24 | Cell Guidance Systems Develops and markets reagents for stem cell research. | $2M | 25 mo ago | 17 | — | Microsoft ASP.NETAmazon Web ServicesReact+17 | — | — |
| 25 | Five Alarm Bio Developer of small molecules for treating aging disorders | $1M | 39 mo ago | 4 | — | — | — | — |
| 26 | Stemnovate Provider of drug-screening and safety-testing platforms and research services | $1M | 58 mo ago | 7 | Ruchi Sharma Co-Founder & CEO | Node.jsNextAuth.jsAnt Design+20 | 14 patents Real-time monitoring and detection assays for cell/tissue cultures and biomolecular analysis. | 1 partnership |
| 27 | Nanna Therapeutics Provider of in-vitro directed evolution platform for drug discovery | $1M | 86 mo ago | 14 | — | — | 19 patents Tagless DNA‑encoded small‑molecule library synthesis, microbial engineering, and microbead screening | — |
| 28 | Isomerase Therapeutics Drug discovery with a focus on natural products and synthetic biology | $646K | 118 mo ago | 29 | Matthew Gregory CEO | — | 26 patents Engineering recombinant fusion proteins for hybrid polyketide/non‑ribosomal peptide drug production. | — |
| 29 | Antibodies.com Provider of portfolio of diagnostic reagents | $506K | 83 mo ago | 3 | Stewart Newlove Founder | Cart FunctionalityPHPWindows Server+12 | — | 1 job opening · 1 launch · 1 award |
| 30 | Gene Advisor Online marketplace for genetic testing | $506K | 120 mo ago | 5 | Jelena Aleksic ex-CEO | — | — | — |
| 31 | Kore Technology Specializes in Mass spectrometer manufacturing | $490K | 125 mo ago | 10 10 → 10 (+0%) · sector median +18% | — | — | — | — |
| 32 | Synoptics Imaging solutions for life science research | $369K | 64 mo ago | 21 | — | WordPressPleskMySQL+24 | 15 patents Optical imaging systems for detecting protein contamination and microbial colony analysis | 1 launch · 1 partnership |
| 33 | Cresset Provider of software solutions for computational chemistry | $298K | 45 mo ago | 46 46 → 88 (+91%) · sector median +18% | — | WordPressApple iCloud MailMicrosoft 365+29 | — | 3 launchs |
| 34 | SensorHut Platform chemical sensor technology to detect and measure volatile organic compounds | $250K | 132 mo ago | 3 | — | — | 19 patents Porous sorbent-based gas-phase chemical sensors for detecting analytes | — |
| 35 | Drop-Tech Microfluidics technology for diagnostics and research applications | $232K | 120 mo ago | 2 | Liisa Vliet Founder & Managing Director | — | — | — |
| 36 | Innova Biosciences Antibody labeling and bioconjugation kits | $197K | 169 mo ago | 1,587 | — | — | 45 patents Antibody conjugate formulation, buffers, and production methods for therapeutic biopharmaceuticals | — |
| 37 | Total Scientific Biomarker discovery and validation services for industry and academia | $184K | 166 mo ago | 2 | — | — | — | — |
| 38 | AgeCurve Provider of direct-to-consumer molecular profiling kits | $169K | 53 mo ago | 1 | Attila Csordas Founder & Director | — | 5 patents Computational cellular lineage analysis for biological age estimation | — |
| 39 | Cambridge Protein Arrays Developer of DNA microarray to protein microarray(DAPA) platform | $120K | 113 mo ago | 2 | — | — | — | — |
| 40 | AptaCam Provider of cloud-based device for molecular diagnostics | $113K | 104 mo ago | 3 | — | — | — | — |
Top 12 Life Sciences Platforms and Tools companies in Cambridge
#1
Series C · Cambridge, England · founded 2016 · 52 employees$186.1Mraised▾
Manufacturer of programmed human cells for research and drug discovery. This entity utilizes gene-targeting technology to express transcription factors that reprogram induced pluripotent stem cells into defined human cell types. These products include various nerve, immune, and muscle cell lines designed for use in laboratory assays, disease modeling, and therapeutic development. The technology enables the production of consistent cell models for applications such as CRISPR screening, electrophysiology, and immunocytochemistry.
- Jan 2026Series C$50M
- Dec 2024Series B$30M
- Dec 2021Series B$37.2M
- Sep 2021Series B$103M
#2
Series B · Cambridge, England · founded 2019 · 25 employees$49Mraised▾
Developer of single-cell functional analysis using a droplet-based platform. The technology uses light rays to precisely control picoliter-scale droplets, enabling scalable assays for drug discovery, therapeutics, and basic research. The system facilitates sequential assays and the real-time dispensing of cells for downstream applications. It supports research into biomolecule secretion, cell-cell communication, and targeted cell killing mechanisms. The platform allows for the precise control of droplet merging to characterize individual cell responses.
- Apr 2026Series B$27M
- Aug 2023Series B$49M
- Dec 2022Series B$25.1M
- Mar 2022Series A$14.2M
#3
Series C · Cambridge, England · founded 2013 · 26 employees$164.2Mraised▾
Provider of rapid protein expression and screening systems for biotechnology labs. It helps life science researchers rapidly prototype, screen, and optimize protein expression. The system uses cell-free synthesis, digital microfluidics, and automated workflows to deliver reliable protein access in days rather than months, supporting research, characterization, and scale-up in biotech and pharma labs.
- Dec 2025Series C$12M
- Oct 2024Series C$75M
- Jun 2024Grant (prize money)$1.5M
- Nov 2023Series B—
#4
Series A · Cambridge, England · founded 2013 · 29 employees$10.5Mraised▾
Provider of human cells, reagents, and reprogramming services. The company's products include reprogramming cells and iPSCs. The company also provides differentiated cells derived from healthy donors and patients of specific disease backgrounds. It provides culture medium and reagents such as Xeno-Free Neural Cell Culture, Cell Culture Media, Coating Solutions, Reagents and Supplements, Cytokines, and Growth Factors.
- Jan 2026Series A$2.8M
- Apr 2022Series A$4.2M
- Apr 2021Series A$344.1K
- Oct 2020Grant (prize money)$366.9K
#5
Series A · Cambridge, England · founded 2018 · 3 employees$2.9Mraised▾
Provider of a platform for drug discovery and screening. The company focuses on drug screening and lead identification of GPCR-targeting oncology drugs. The company has developed the proprietary technology called SemaCyte which is the microchip technology and nanomagnetism that helps in drug discovery. It focuses on drug discovery which will target the cell surface receptors such as GPCRs and tyrosine kinases.
- Mar 2026Series A$3.8M
- Feb 2022Seed$2.9M
#6
Series B · Cambridge, England · founded 2015 · 32 employees$76.8Mraised▾
Developer of a phenotypic screening platform for drug target discovery. The platform systematically unmasks druggable sites across the entire human proteome. It directly links these sites to therapeutic functions in a live-cell context. The company focuses on advancing novel targets in oncology and targeted protein degradation.
- Sep 2024Series B$12M
- Mar 2021Series B$46M
- May 2018Series A$15M
- May 2015Grant (prize money)$2.2M
#7
Series B · Cambridge, England · founded 2009 · 33 employees$44.8Mraised▾
Develops organ-on-a-chip platforms for drug discovery. The PhysioMimix OOC benchtop device is a Lab-on-a-Chip system that helps in vitro studies in fields including oncology, infectious diseases, metabolism, and inflammation, develop therapeutic antibodies/proteins, and cellular therapies, to investigate drug metabolism, toxicity, and drug-drug interactions. Also have Liver-On-a-Chip, barrier models, and others.
- Apr 2024Series B$35.2M
- Mar 2021Grant (prize money)—
- Feb 2021Series A$3M
- Mar 2020Series A$9M
#8
Series A · Cambridge, England · founded 2018 · 10 employees$2.6Mraised▾
Provider of a benchtop instrument for protien research. It offers Amperia which is integrated with 96-well plates and based on Redox Electrochemical Detection technology that tracks electrical alterations when interacted with molecules for antibody quantification or binding assays.
- Oct 2024Series A$8.4M
- Nov 2022Seed$1.6M
- Mar 2021Seed$2.6M
#9
Funding Raised · Cambridge, England · founded 2003$10.7Mraised▾
ProteinLogic is engaged in biomarker discovery and exploitation, developing a novel diagnostic platform (ImmiPrint) focused on the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB). It has combined the discreet protein content solution with high throughput automated immunoassay technology and pattern recognition software to develop a generic biomarker search and discovery platform. The company has identified soluble CD antigens (sCDs) for 14 different diseases representing several different disease types. The company is also developing products in the are of infectious, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
- Jan 2024Grant (prize money)$1.4M
- Jun 2018Grant (prize money)$4.2M
- Jul 2015Grant (prize money)$5.2M
#10
Acquired · Cambridge, England · founded 1998 · 1587 employees$78.8Mraised▾
Developer of biological reagents for life science research. It is a supplier of protein research tools to life scientists, offering high-quality biological reagents and tools, including antibodies, proteins, and kits. The company provides a range of products and services that support life science research, with a focus on product quality, customer support, and scientific collaboration. The company has developed primary and secondary antibodies, immunoassay kits and reagents, cellular imaging tools, biochemical assays, proteins and peptides, and more.
- May 2019Conventional Debt$258.7M
- Jul 2013Grant (prize money)$1.3M
- Apr 2012PE$77M
- Feb 2012Grant (prize money)$1.5M
#11
Series C · Cambridge, England · founded 2010 · 29 employees$56.7Mraised▾
Developer of single-cell analysis systems designed for single-cell dispensing and cell line and therapy development. The company's cell analysis systems assist in the discovery of new cell strains and molecules for use in single-cell analysis and characterization, helping life science companies in biologics discovery and accelerating biopharmaceutical discovery.
#12
Acquired · Cambridge, England · founded 1996$63.4Mraised▾
The company design and manufactures scientific products for use in applications including life sciences, healthcare, astronomy, consumer manufacturing, and art conservation markets.
- Dec 2019Post IPO$3.4M
- Dec 2019Conventional Debt$12.7M
- 2007Series A$63.4M
Funding & investor landscape
Notable founders
Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage
Share of Life Sciences Platforms and Tools coverage by sub-theme.
Regulatory-risk over time rising
Funding & growth over time
funding rising · growth rising
How research on Bioinformatics in Cambridge is moving
A read on the academic research around Bioinformatics in Cambridge — which themes are gaining ground, the institutions and researchers driving them, and how the tone is shifting. Based on 240 papers.
- University of Cambridge194
- Cancer Research UK Cambridge Center27
- Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust24
- Cambridge School15
- Wellcome/MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute8
- Gene2→13
- Genome2→12
- Transcriptome2→11
- DNA sequencing1→5
- Chromatin1→5
- Genome6
- Computational biology4
- Missense mutation3
- Transcriptome3
- In silico3
- Disease2→3
Common questions
Riya reads income statements for fun. She covers the real money in a sector — revenue, growth, who actually earns — and never met a vague claim she didn't want a number for.