DropGenie raises $5 million to advance biological discovery technology

Biotech startup DropGenie, operating out of Montreal and Boston, has secured $5 million USD in a seed-plus funding round. The investment includes new participation from BDC Capital through its Thrive Fund. The round was led by Massachusetts-based Skeleton Key, with additional support from the Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, CQDM, Real Ventures, and Anges Québec.

Founded in 2018 by CEO Alison Hirukawa, the company utilizes digital microfluidics to manipulate minute amounts of liquid using electrical signals. This technology aims to automate early-stage pharmaceutical research, which is often manual and limited by the scarcity of patient samples.

DropGenie intends to use the capital to expand its team and commercialize its first product, which integrates gene editing onto a miniaturized chip to extract more data from small biological samples, such as a single drop of blood.