"Celloid Develops 3D Cell Culture Solution, Raises 2.4 Billion KRW in Pre-Series A Funding"

Celloid, a startup developing 3D cell culture solutions, announced on the 31st that it has completed a "Pre-Series A investment round worth 2.4 billion KRW." Series A investment refers to the first round of funding following seed (early-stage) investment.

Founded in May 2021, Celloid is a spin-off company based on long-term research results from Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH). Its strengths lie in independently developed core technologies and broad development capabilities. Starting with seed investment from POSTECH Holdings in June 2022, it secured additional investments from FuturePlay, POSTECH Holdings, and others within about a year and a half.

Currently, Celloid is challenging itself to realize an automated closed 3D cell culture system for cell aggregates by utilizing its core technology of material permeability thin-film scaffold technology. To achieve this, experts from various fields such as biotechnology, mechanical engineering, and robotics are collaborating.

Photos from the PR-Day event hosted by POSTECH Holdings
[Photo by FuturePlay]

After securing seed investment, Celloid demonstrated the feasibility of its 3D cell culture automation system within a short period, filing and registering intellectual property rights including 4 domestic patents, 2 US patents, and 2 Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications. Additionally, it won a government grant worth 5 billion KRW from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy as the lead institution for the machinery and equipment industry technology development project.

At Celloid, Professor Kim Dong-sung, who has been actively researching materials processing and bio systems at POSTECH, serves as co-CEO and leads technology development. Co-CEO Min Byung-hyuk, who was responsible for building and operating bio production lines at LG Chem, oversees cell culture process development. Notably, PhDs from POSTECH with experience in 3D cell culture technology development and robotics process automation have joined the team.

Celloid’s key advantage is expected to ultimately contribute to significantly lowering the treatment costs of ultra-high-priced patient-customized regenerative cell therapies. CEO Kim Dong-sung stated, "The regenerative medicine market, which is the upstream industry of Celloid, is growing rapidly at an annual rate of 17.45%, but with existing technologies, cell aggregate-based regenerative therapies must mostly be produced manually within aseptic facilities."

He added, "Currently, Celloid is almost uniquely positioned worldwide to possess closed automated culture technology that produces cell aggregates?close to raw materials for the regenerative medicine industry?with high uniformity and reproducibility. Due to the nature of the pharmaceutical industry, once equipment and consumables used in new drug manufacturing processes are selected, they rarely change. Therefore, we plan to aggressively invest to capture the early market. We aim to dominate the global regenerative medicine market, estimated at 127.7 billion USD (approximately 170 trillion KRW) by 2030."

Goo Yong-seok, Principal Researcher at FuturePlay who participated in this investment, said, "This company develops the most fundamental and essential products in the rapidly growing cell therapy and animal testing alternative markets. We expect them to generate significant sales not only domestically but also globally."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.