NetScientific Offers Follow-on Funding to Breakout Labs Companies

Cytovale team is first to benefit from deal between Breakout Labs and NetScientificThe first time we met with Michael Boyce-Jacino, Executive Director for NetScientific, we knew that we had found a kindred spirit in his firm’s approach to innovation. We had not previously heard of the UK-based company, but we were impressed by their creative business model (a publicly traded company that invests in and develops groundbreaking scientific research into commercial enterprises), their team (comprising substantial leadership experience in major biomedical companies like GSK and Medtronic), and the companies that they support.

Michael clearly saw something in Breakout Labs that intrigued him, because over the next few months, we built an alliance that enables NetScientific to provide follow-on funding to companies in our portfolio that match their overall priority areas. Under the terms of the agreement, NetScientific will invest up to $250,000 follow-on funding in the form of a convertible note. This funding will be available for up to 6 companies per year.

Farad Azima, CEO of NetScientific articulated the value of our alliance in a joint press release issued today: “This partnership provides NetScientific with access to some of the most revolutionary new technologies coming out of Silicon Valley and beyond. We’re impressed by Breakout Labs’ ability to identify and foster revolutionary life science companies and look forward to working with them to help support a new wave of scientific innovation.”

And we, of course, are keenly aware of the pressure on our companies to raise money, which only accelerates once they are building out their teams and R&D efforts with our funds. In conceiving this agreement, we took inspiration from Y Combinator’s YC VC program (originally with Yuri Milner, now with Khosla Ventures) to provide follow-on support for Y Combinator companies. We’re delighted to have a partner that is not only an investor and an experienced ally in the biomedical arena, but also shares our passion for helping move scientific breakthroughs out of the lab and into the economy.

The first beneficiary of our agreement is Cytovale, which we funded late last year to pioneer a new class of diagnostics using biomarkers based on the mechanical properties of cells.

For more information, see our press release here.