Stilla Technologies completes ?16 Million ($18 Million) Series A financing to commercialize its novel digital PCR system and develop clinical applications

PARIS, Nov. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Stilla Technologies, the European provider of pioneering digital PCR solutions for high precision genetic analysis, announced today the successful completion of a Series A financing round of 16 million euros ($18 Million) led by Illumina Ventures, with participation from Kurma Partners, LBO France, BNP Paribas Développement, Paris Saclay Seeds AND Idinvest Partners. As part of the financing, Nick Naclerio (Illumina Ventures), Philippe Peltier (Kurma Partners) and Philippe Chambon (LBO France) have joined the board of directors, replacing the seed investors.

Since 2016, Stilla Technologies has been providing research organizations specialized in molecular biology and genetic analysis with its Naica System, a ground-breaking digital PCR solution that enables scientists to detect and quantify DNA mutations with unrivalled precision.

"With our Naica System, researchers worldwide are building a new generation of high-precision genetic tests for a wide variety of applications such as liquid biopsy tests for cancer diagnostics, pre-natal testing or GMO detection," said Rémi Dangla, CEO and co-founder of Stilla Technologies. "This additional financing will enable Stilla to accelerate the sales of the Naica System, launch our 2^nd generation solution and begin clinically validating panels to be run on the system, with an initial focus in the field of oncology."

"We are very excited to be working with Stilla and such a deep syndicate of European investors," added Nick Naclerio, Founding Partner of Illumina Ventures.  "The Stilla team has done an amazing job developing and launching the Naica system in Europe and Asia with a very limited amount of seed financing. With these additional resources, we believe that Stilla Technologies can become a global leader in digital PCR and the lowest cost platform for liquid biopsies."   

Stilla Technologies will be presenting its latest products and developments in the field of digital PCR at the upcoming annual 4BIO Summit ? Europe in Rotterdam, Netherlands on the 27^th and 28^th of November 2018.

About Stilla Technologies  
Founded in 2013 at Ecole Polytechnique, Stilla Technologies is a Paris-based European life sciences company that focuses on accelerating the development of next-generation genetic tests by providing a ground-breaking and flexible digital PCR (dPCR) solution: the Naica System. Taking advantage of cutting-edge microfluidic innovations, Stilla aims to make dPCR a lab commodity for all areas of the life sciences. Stilla actively advises and supports its customers worldwide through its dynamic and multidisciplinary R&D team, with expertise spanning from microfluidics to chemistry, including molecular biology and AI.
www.stillatechnologies.com

About Illumina Ventures 
Illumina Ventures is an independently-managed, healthcare-focused venture firm in a strategic partnership with Illumina, with the vision to unlock the power of the genome. As an early-stage, value-add investor, we help entrepreneurs develop breakthrough science and technologies into market-leading companies to transform healthcare. We focus on investment in life science tools, therapeutics, diagnostics, and personal wellness. 
www.illuminaventures.com 

About LBO France 
Since its inception in 1985, pioneer in the French Private Equity market, with ?3.4 billion under management as of December 2017, LBO France is one of the largest private equity firms in France in the discounted market.
LBO France, through its digital health funds, supports the growth of innovative SMEs in Digital Health and the Silver Economy.
https://www.lbofrance.com

About Kurma Partners 
Created in 2009, Kurma Partners is a European leading venture capital group specialized in Life Sciences and managing Kurma Biofund I, Kurma Biofund II and its accelerator fund, Kurma Diagnostics. The company has more than ?250 million under management and develops an investment strategy supported by both the selection of the best investment opportunities in Europe and the development of a "proprietary" portfolio of companies in which Kurma steps in at creation stage. 
www.kurmapartners.com

About Idinvest
Idinvest Partners is a leading European mid-market private equity firm. With close to ?8bn under management, the firm has developed several areas of expertise including innovative startup venture capital transactions; mid-market corporate debt, i.e. single-tranche, senior and subordinated debt; primary and secondary investment and private equity advisory services. Founded in 1997 Idinvest Partners used to be an Allianz subsidiary until 2010, when it branched out as an independent firm. In January 2018, Idinvest Partners joined forces with Eurazeo to create a private equity leader in Europe and North America with ?15bn under management.
www.idinvestpartners.com 

About BNP Paribas Développement
BNP Paribas Développement, a BNP Paribas Group subsidiary founded in 1988, invests its own capital directly in promising small and medium-sized enterprises and mid-cap companies. As a minority shareholder in these target companies, BNP Paribas Développement seeks to promote their growth and ensure their longer-term prosperity by facilitating ownership transfer.
It manages a portfolio of 400 companies including 50 startups.
www.bnpparibasdeveloppement.com

SOURCE Stilla Technologies