€ 30 million investment for UG spin-off Portal Biotech

Portal Biotech, a pioneer in nanopore-based protein identification and sequencing technology, has raised € 30 million in Series A funding. The funding will support commercial rollout and team growth.

The oversubscribed funding round was led by NATO Innovation Fund and Earlybird Venture Capital, with participation from existing investors SCVC, Pillar VC, 8VC, Amino Collective, and Outsized, as well as new investors We Venture Capital, British Business Bank and WS Investment Company.

Successful University of Groningen spin-off

Portal Biotech builds on the ideas of Prof. Giovanni Maglia from the Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute (GBB) at the University of Groningen Faculty of Science and Engineering.

High accuracy protein sequencing and on-site analysis

Portal Biotech’s technology addresses long-standing bottlenecks in the € 40 billion proteomics market. Its portable and cost-effective platform enables researchers to perform high-accuracy protein sequencing and analysis on-site, with results that are 10-100 times faster than existing products. The technology analyses intact proteins at a molecular level, unravelling high-resolution insights that are essential for drug discovery, diagnostics, and precision medicine.

Unlock better diagnostics and more effective treatments

"Our platform is designed to be where the work happens and provide researchers with unique insights – not only identifying proteins but also pinpointing where their key modifications are" said Andrew Heron, CEO. "By making high-resolution protein analysis faster and more insightful, we’re helping R&D teams unlock better diagnostics and more effective treatments."

Groningen as a great place to compete on the global biotechnology stage

Founder Prof. Giovanni Maglia: "I’m very proud of what we achieved in this collaboration between the University of Groningen and Portal Biotech. For our students and researchers at Groningen, Portal Biotech's success demonstrates that groundbreaking innovation doesn't just belong in academic journals—it can create entire companies, reshape industries and impact the lives of people who need that technology to evolve. This funding milestone proves that European research excellence and the exceptional talent in our Groningen ecosystem is in a great place to compete on the global biotechnology stage."

Commercial rollout and team growth

The new funding will accelerate Portal Biotech's commercial deployment timeline and expand its early adopter program with key pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners. Portal Biotech will also be expanding its team across R&D (vacancy Director R&D), engineering, and data science.

About Portal Biotech

Portal Biotech is developing next-generation nanopore-based technologies for direct, single-molecule protein sequencing. The company's platform enables researchers to gain access unprecedented insights into the proteome with high throughput, sensitivity, and specificity. Founded in 2021, Portal Biotech is headquartered in London at Scale Space, and Campus Groningen.

Andrew Heron, CEO of Portal Biotech / a.heron portalbiotech.com

Careers

Interested in working at Portal Biotech? Portal Biotech is looking for a Director R&D

Lead investors

• https://earlybird.com/

• https://www.nif.fund/