acxel announced the successful completion of more than $10m in Series A funding. Luxin Venture Capital Group led this round of financing, with continued support from existing shareholders Qiming Venture Partners, Linear Capital, and Cowin Capital, among others. WinX Capital serves as the financial advisor for this financing round. Following this funding, acxel aims to expedite the commercialisation and promotion of single-cell proteomics in the field of active-matrix digital microfluidics, providing differentiated products and services to address gaps in laboratory sample pre-processing, functional discovery, and validation needs. The company strives to propel advanced life science instruments manufactured in China into the global market.
Established in 2021, acxel boasts a globally leading active-matrix digital microfluidics (AM-DMF) droplet manipulation platform. In just over two years, the company has successfully completed four rounds of financing, with shareholders including numerous top venture capitalists and renowned industry investors.
The company's inaugural commercial product, Boxmini™ SCP, stands as the world's first end-to-end microfluidic on-chip single-cell proteomics sample pre-processing tool. It efficiently aids users in achieving high-throughput, rapid, and precise control of minute samples, seamlessly completing complex single-cell protein sample pre-processing tasks. Compatible with both label-free and TMT labelling approaches, the product has garnered significant market attention since its launch.
(The world’s first microfluidic chip-based solution for a complete workflow of mass spectrometry single-cell proteomics sample preparation.)
Regarding this financing round, Dr. Hanbin Ma, Founder and CEO of acxel, expressed:
"By incorporating consumer electronics semiconductor technology into the field of life sciences, the acxel team has successfully navigated from 0 to 1, making a significant achiement. Particularly in the application scenarios of single-cell proteomics sample pre-processing, we have gained recognition from leading PIs both domestically and internationally. The precise manipulation of nanoliter samples within the active-matrix digital microfluidics (AM-DMF) chip and the integrated capabilities throughout the entire process have generated experimentally significant results for the entire field. In other areas such as single-cell multi-omics, microbiology, and synthetic biology, acxel will collaborate with various downstream partners to accelerate the development and commercialisation of new products. With the support of both new and existing shareholders, we will leverage our technological advantages to rapidly expand into domestic and international markets. Using single-cell proteomics products as a breakthrough point, we aim to create a semiconductor technology-based biochip ecosystem through an open digital microfluidic sharing platform. This will enable life science laboratories and medical diagnostics to quickly enter the era of consumer electronics."
Qiu Fang, Vice President of Luxin Venture Capital Group, the lead investor in this round, stated:
"As a state-owned professional venture capital institution, Luxin Venture Capital has consistently supported the transformation of independent research platforms and instrument equipment achievements through entrepreneurial investment, placing the task of achieving high-level scientific self-sufficiency and self-reliance in the forefront. acxel has mastered the core underlying technology of active-matrix digital microfluidics, with the potential to advance laboratory automation to an entirely new level and create a new research platform. The company's launch of single-cell proteomics products provides advanced tools for cutting-edge research, attracting strong attention among downstream customers, including Luxin's invested enterprises. This reflects the high level of self-sufficiency of domestically produced scientific instruments and heralds a new era. Luxin Venture Capital will support acxel in the battle for the localisation of scientific instrument equipment."
Dr. Kan Chen, Partner at Qiming Venture Partners, the partner from the previous financing round, commented:
"As the lead investor in the previous round, Qiming Venture Partners has made consecutive capital injections into acxel for two rounds. Leveraging the company's strong R&D capabilities and excellent execution, it quickly launched cutting-edge products in the single-cell application field, targeting a vast blue ocean market. We have full confidence in the company's future and will continue to support the commercialisation of the company's overseas markets. We look forward to acxel propelling 'Intelligent Manufacturing in China' advanced scientific instruments onto the world stage."
Mr. Zheng Can, Managing Director of Linear Capital, stated:
"As the lead investor in the angel round, Linear Capital firmly believes that investments should be made in the right people. We have personally witnessed Dr. Hanbin Ma's transformation from a research scientist to a modern entrepreneur. Dr. Hanbin Ma's character, scientific literacy, forward-looking vision, and entrepreneurial spirit have left a profound impression on us. Under his leadership, the company first introduced a groundbreaking solution in single-cell proteomics, reigniting the flame in global proteomics research. In this round, we continue to increase our investment, propelling acxel towards becoming a benchmark enterprise in advanced scientific instruments."
Mr. Xi YanBin, Partner at Cowin Capital and Beijing Medical Fund, expressed:
"We have always believed that acxel's digital microfluidic chip system holds the potential to become a crucial carrier for the next generation of life science microreactors, continuously providing innovative solutions for scientific research and the pharmaceutical industry. The company's single-cell proteomics product has advanced proteomics research to a practical single-cell granularity, allowing customers to explore the known and the unknown from a new perspective without the limitations of tools. In this round, we continue to increase our investment, anticipating that acxel can fully unleash advanced technology at the application level."
Dr. Guowen Zou, Founding Partner of WinX Capital, stated:
"WinX Capital is honoured to serve as the financial advisor for acxel's financing for the third consecutive round, witnessing acxel's journey from the startup phase to rapid development and commercialisation. As a leading company in the digital microfluidics industry, acxel has successfully navigated market cycles, securing four consecutive rounds of financing in less than three years, demonstrating high recognition from the capital side. We look forward to acxel's further expansion in downstream areas, becoming a world-leading life science tools company."
About Luxin Venture Capital:
Luxin Venture Capital is the largest and most influential professional venture capital institution in Shandong Province, holding shares in Shandong Luxin Investment Holdings Group Co., Ltd. It is the first venture capital institution to be listed on the domestic capital market (stock code: 600783.SH). Established for over 20 years, it manages and operates various funds totalling over 40, with a fund size of approximately 20 billion yuan. The funds cover various industries such as medical health, military-civilian integration, advanced manufacturing, electronic information, new energy, and new materials. Luxin Venture Capital has invested in more than 40 listed companies at home and abroad, including outstanding enterprises in the field of medical health such as 3D Medicines Inc., Shenzhen Sibionics Co., Ltd., Shanghai Applied Protein Technology Co., Ltd, Wuhan ABclonal Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Beijing WeMed Medical Equipment Co., Ltd., MDHC Group, Inscinstech Co., Ltd., RemeGen Co., Ltd., and others.