The founder of a biotechnology company has secured backing for a new venture that aims to transform laboratory data management.
Ryan Cawood, who founded OXGENE, has raised £750,000 from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund II, through fund manager Mercia Ventures, for his latest business, Lab Thread.
OXGENE, founded in 2011 and also backed by Mercia, became one of the UK’s fastest growing companies and won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise before its sale to WuXi Advanced Therapies for $135m in 2021.
Ryan has joined forces with his former colleague Deyan Sultov to launch Lab Thread. Based in Silverstone, it aims to fill a gap in the market for cost-effective software that can manage complex research data across both office and laboratory environments. The funding will enable them to finalise development and commercialise the platform.
Current laboratory software is often too costly for smaller organisations, or provides only a partial solution that does not integrate with other systems. Therefore scientists tend to record research results in a range of different ways including paper notebooks, slides and spreadsheets, which makes it difficult to share data and hinders workflow.
Lab Thread aims to resolve these issues by providing a user-friendly, all-in-one solution. The platform will combine advanced DNA visualisation tools, sample inventory, project management and in-lab experiment recording capabilities, all pre-populated for everyday laboratory tasks.
Ryan Cawood, founder and CEO of Lab Thread, said: “Research is highly complex and regularly takes unexpected turns but current software platforms often fail to allow this level of flexibility. As a result, researchers often resort to using paper or lose important data. Lab Thread aims to make their jobs easier by providing interfaces for both the office and lab, stripping out the paperwork and streamlining processes along the way.
“I worked with Mercia for over a decade while building OXGENE and the partnership was very successful for both sides, so the first thing I did when starting this new venture was to reach out to Mercia again. The funding will enable us to aggressively pursue our development plans and transform laboratory data management.”
The global market for laboratory software is estimated at between £4.4bn and £5bn and is projected to grow by 8-10% annually over the next five years.
Howard Mitchell of Mercia Ventures said: “Ryan and Deyan are passionate about solving the challenges of information management in laboratories as they know how critical it is for successful research. Through their combined experience, they are ideally placed to develop a solution. We believe that Lab Thread will tap into growing demand for laboratory software and could have a significant impact on the success of the life sciences sector.”
Ross McGrath and Peter Mayhew from Shakespeare Martineau provided legal advice to Mercia on the deal.
