Poietis, a Bordeaux-based start-up, furthered its growth by completing a first round of fundraising with €2.5 M, including the record fundraising of nearly €1 million via the WiSEED crowdfunding platform.
The result of research from the University of Bordeaux, Poietis is the number one company worldwide exploiting laser-assisted bio-printing technology, specifically for the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries, as well as for centers for regenerative medicine. Thanks to this fundraising, the company will be able to industrialize the laser bio-printing technology and put the very first bio-printed tissues on the market.
Poietis, which employs 19 people, therefore plans to progressively increase its workforce to 25 people in 2017.
This ambitious first round of fundraising was achieved using WiSEED (a pioneer and leader in equity crowdfunding), Business Angels and longstanding shareholders. This €1.2 million increase in capital is supplemented by grants, repayable advances and loans from Bpifrance, the Conseil Régional of Aquitaine, Banque Populaire Aquitaine Centre Atlantique, EADS Development and from Michelin Development.
In the context of this fundraising, Poietis was assisted by the regional ADI agency (Agence Développment Innovation).
Fabien Guillemot, President and Scientific Director of Poietis, commented, “After laying the foundations for the company in our first year, thanks to this round of fundraising we will now be able to strengthen our technological lead at the international level, in particular by developing a new generation bio-printer for production.”
Bio-printing, or the 3D printing of biological tissues, is considerable, meeting the major social and economic needs of the market, and estimated at nearly €2 billion beginning in 2020.
(Source: Press release, 17/12/2015)
