Danish 3D cell culture company Celvivo raises USD 6.6 million and appoints new CEO for global scale-up
A life-science tools veteran joins the table
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Danish biotech company Celvivo adds an industry-veteran investor to its ownership circle and, with its ClinoStar platform for 3D cell cultures, continues to build towards becoming a leading provider reshaping the future of life-science research.
Jacob Philipsen, CEO at Celvivo.
Celvivo
Celvivo’s advanced technology grows relevant, abundant, reproducible, and easy-to-use 3D cell cultures. It has now secured the company a further investment of USD 6.6 million, backed by existing investors EIFO and T&W Holding, together with new investor VOMA Holding. The investment is aimed at accelerating the company’s scale-up, commercial expansion, and product development.
A life-science tools veteran joins the table
This funding round adds an investor with extensive knowledge in scaling life-science tools companies from the ground up. VOMA Holding is led by Ole Vorm, co-founder of Protana, MDS Proteomics, Proxeon, and Evosep, which grew into global players in the industry. This experience with the pharma and biotech markets is exactly the kind of hands-on experience that Celvivo has been looking for as the company moves into its next phase:
“I’ve spent my career building tools that researchers rely on every day and I recognize in Celvivo’s ClinoStar platform the same kind of potential I’ve seen succeed elsewhere. We look forward to contributing our learnings as Celvivo grows,” said Ole Vorm of VOMA Holding.
Existing investors accelerate their commitment
EIFO and T&W Holding, who have backed Celvivo in previous rounds, are joining the round alongside VOMA Holding, each contributing USD 2.2 million:
“We’re seeing more specialized funds investing in pharmaceutical development, but only a few turn to life science tools and diagnostics. It is an area where we have taken on a central role and our investment in Celvivo is a strong example of just that. We have a clear ambition of helping foster a cluster of Danish companies working with technologies that pave the way for the research and development of the next generation of drugs and treatments,” said Tonni Bülow-Nielsen, partner in the life science team at EIFO.
“We’ve supported Celvivo since 2020 because we believe in the mission and the technology. We’re pleased to continue that support in this round alongside a new partner who brings strong operating experience in this space”, said Lars Nørgaard, CEO of T&W Holding.
Strengthened leadership for the next phase
Alongside the investment, Celvivo has recently appointed Jacob Philipsen to the position of CEO. Jacob joins from Advalight, where, as CEO, he helped scale the company from pre-revenue to sales in more than 50 countries. He has previously served as CEO of RSP Systems and is a co-founder and chairman of Norlase, bringing a track record of taking early-stage companies through the same kind of scale-up phase that Celvivo is now entering. Jacob Philipsen succeeds Peter Willems-Alnøe, who had led Celvivo since 2018. The Board and Celvivo thank him for his pivotal contributions to building the technology and the team.
"Jacob has a proven track record of taking companies from early commercial traction to a global scale, which is exactly the phase Celvivo is entering. Combined with the backing from our investors and the addition of Ole Vorm as a board observer, we now have the leadership, the capital, and an even more experienced board to help execute on that next stage of Celvivo’s journey," said Patrik Dahlen, Chairman of the Board.
Momentum behind the round
The investment follows a year of tangible progress for Celvivo: growing revenues and expanding the commercial organization with a strong cross-disciplinary skillset spanning direct, indirect, and inside sales. Simultaneously, Celvivo debuted a new brand platform and a series of highly exciting, independent publications from customers. Over the same period, the company has continued to strengthen its distributor network and the processes required to support a larger global business. Celvivo expects to keep building on that momentum, deepening its work with research and industry partners, as well as pursuing further investment to support additional growth over the coming years.
“We operate in a rapidly developing market with a large, untapped potential when it comes to the technologies presently being used. With this new investment, we have a decisive opportunity to turn our potential into reality. It’s a strong vote of confidence as we enter the next stage of Celvivo’s growth and scale-up journey,” said Jacob Philipsen, CEO of Celvivo.
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