About Univercells
Univercells is a Healthcare company based in Charleroi (Belgium) founded in 2013 by Jose Castillo. It operates as a biomanufacturing technologies are supplied for biopharma antibody and vaccine production. Univercells has raised $150.64 million across 10 funding rounds from investors including KKR, Korea Investment Holdings and Gates Foundation. The company has 87 employees. Univercells has completed 1 acquisition, including SynHelix. Its focus areas include Life Sciences, Life Sciences Platforms and Tools, Research Services and Diversified. Its legal entity is Univercells SA. Its competitors include GSK, Avidity Biosciences, Sutro Biopharma, Antheia and Vividion Therapeutics and 4 more; 8 of its 9 listed competitors have raised funding.
Company details
Univercells was established in 2013 in Charleroi, Belgium, to focus on biomanufacturing technologies for the biopharma sector. Instrument systems have been developed for producing antibodies, proteins, and vaccines. Proprietary platforms, including the Scale-X bioreactor and Nevoline, are utilized for upstream processing of viral products. These technologies support the delivery of viral vaccines and gene therapies through scalable bioprocessing solutions.
- Headquarters Charleroi, Belgium
- Employees 87
- Founders Jose Castillo
- SectorsHealthcare
- Website univercells.com
- Social LinkedIn X
- Legal Name Univercells Sa
- Annual Revenue$22.55 M (USD)39as on Dec 31, 2022
- Net Profit-$7.12 M (USD)19as on Dec 31, 2022
- EBITDA-$7.12 M (USD)19as on Dec 31, 2022
- Total Equity Funding$150.64M (USD)
in 10 rounds
- Latest Funding Round$43.33M (USD), Series D
Oct 2022
- InvestorsKKR
& 19 more
- Employee Count87
- Investments & Acquisitions
Funding Insights of Univercells
Univercells has successfully raised a total of $150.64M across 10 strategic funding rounds. The most recent funding activity was a Series D round of $43.33 million completed in October 2022. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $150.64M
- Total Rounds 10
- Last Round Series D — $43.33M
- First Round $3.28M
(Oct 2015)
- Investors Count 20
All 10 funding rounds of Univercells with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2022 | $43.33M | Series D | – | SFPI, SRIW | |
| Dec 2020 | $85.24M | Series C | – | Adjuvant Capital, Sai Food Products | |
| Feb 2020 | – | Series C | – | KKR | – |
| Oct 2019 | $21.93M | Debt – Conventional | – | – | |
| Jul 2018 | $18.8M | Series B | – | Global Health Investment Fund | |
| Jan 2018 | $2.9M | Grant | – | – | |
| Dec 2017 | – | Series A | – | Takeda Ventures | – |
| Dec 2016 | $12M | Grant | – | – | |
| Dec 2015 | $509,500 | Grant | – | – | – |
| Oct 2015 | $3.28M | Series A | – | Takeda Ventures | – |
20 investors in total: 19 institutional and 1 angel.
Investors in Univercells
Univercells has secured backing from 20 investors, including venture fund, institutional, and angel investors. Prominent investors backing the company include KKR, Korea Investment Holdings and Gates Foundation.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Venture capital is deployed for global health technology innovations. | – | adjuvantcapital.com | New York City, USA | |
AdBio Partners is engaged in early-stage life sciences investments. | – | adbio.partners | Paris, France | |
Venture capital is provided by TCD Capital to scale-ups. | 2016 | theclubdeal.com | Brussels, Belgium | |
A family-owned company focused on long-term investments and real estate development. | – | 3d-investors.be | Gent, Belgium | |
Venture capital firm | – | iqt.org | Washington, Dc, United States | |
Private equity is directed toward private and public companies. | – | sfpi-fpim.be | Brussels, Belgium | |
Buyouts are pursued by SRIW as a private equity firm. | – | sriw.be | Liege, Belgium | |
Private equity investments are made in lower middle market companies. | 2015 | amerigocap.com | Newport Beach, United States | |
Multiple investment strategies are pursued by this hedge fund. | 1986 | faralloncapital.com | San Francisco, United States | |
Investment holding firm established in Seoul in 2003. | 2003 | koreainvestment.com | Seoul, South Korea |
Investor details for Univercells
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People of Univercells
10 people are tracked at Univercells (4 in leadership, 6 in team); the tracked headcount is 87.
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Jose Castillo | Co-Founder & CTO | Leadership |
Anna dal Borgo | HR Business Partner And Talent Acquisition At Exothera (cdmo) | Leadership |
Hala Audi | Chief Alliance Officer | Leadership |
David Louvet | Chief Operating Officer | Leadership |
Tansia Mopafiba | HR Officer | Team |
Tibina Shanaj | Corporate Support Officer | Team |
Idil Aydogan | Audit & Internal Control Lead | Team |
Stéphane Pellé | Accounting Manager | Team |
Christian Clement | Payroll Expert | Team |
Hélène Forski | Technical Buyer | Team |
Complete people profiles for Univercells
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Investments & Acquisitions by Univercells
Univercells has strategically engaged in corporate development activities, having acquired 1 company. Notable acquisitions include SynHelix.
| Company Name | Description | Domain | Location | Founded | Acquired | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Enzyme-based DNA synthesis technology is developed for large-scale production. | synhelix.com | Evry Courcouronnes, France | 2019 | Jan 2022 | •••• |
Complete acquisition details for Univercells
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Timeline of Univercells
4 dated milestones of Univercells across 9 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded Univercells is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $3.3M.
- Acquisition Acquires SynHelix.
- Funding Latest funding round, Series D, of $43.3M.
Competitors of Univercells
Univercells has 9 listed competitors in our database, 8 of them funded. They include GSK, Avidity Biosciences, Sutro Biopharma, Antheia and Vividion Therapeutics, among others.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gsk.com | 1715 | Brentford, United Kingdom | – | 90,913 | Developer of pharmaceuticals and vaccines for various therapeutic areas | |
| aviditybiosciences.com | 2012 | San Diego, United States | $142.54M | 253 | Antibody-siRNA complexes are developed for cancer treatment. | |
| sutrobio.com | 2003 | United States | $171.85M | 235 | Antibody-based therapeutics for cancer therapy are developed via cell-free synthesis. | |
| antheia.bio | 2013 | Palo Alto, United States | $152.37M | 50 | Yeast cells are genetically engineered to produce medicinal products. | |
| vividion.com | 2016 | Oceanside, United States | $270.5M | 123 | Developing novel drugs based on a proteome-wide ligand and target discovery platform | |
| synthego.com | 2012 | Redwood, United States | $459.75M | – | CRISPR-engineered cell and gene therapies are developed for research applications. | |
| korrobio.com | 2018 | Cambridge, United States | $4M | 77 | RNA-editing technologies are provided for precision medicine applications. | |
| savarapharma.com | 2008 | Austin, United States | $67.82M | 37 | Therapeutics for rare respiratory diseases are developed by Savara Pharma. | |
| lifeminetx.com | 2016 | Cambridge, United States | $300.07M | 85 | Developer of novel drugs from fungi via genome mining and recombinant overexpression |
Detailed competitors of Univercells
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Top companies in Life Sciences Platforms & Tools
10 companies that operate in the same segment as Univercells (Life Sciences Platforms & Tools), ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Medidata is recognized as a leading provider of SaaS solutions for clinical research. | 1999 | New York, New York, United States | USD 41.5 M | – | – | |
AI-based solutions for health management are provided. | 2015 | Dallas, Texas, United States | USD 2.8 B | – | 1,111 | |
Nanopore-based electronic systems for single-molecule analysis are developed. | 2005 | Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom | USD 1.34 B | USD 301.49 M | 1,372 | |
Real-world health data is provided for research and decisions. | 2012 | Menlo Park, California, United States | USD 259.16 M | – | – | |
Genetically modified cell lines are developed using AAV gene-editing platform. | 2007 | Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom | USD 46.29 M | – | – | |
Biological reagents and antibodies are developed for life science research. | 1998 | Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom | USD 78.8 M | – | – | |
Electron microscopy services and microanalysis instruments are provided. | 1956 | Waltham, Massachusetts, United States | – | USD 44.56 B | 125,000 | |
Novel therapeutics are discovered using an AI-enabled drug platform. | 2013 | New York, New York, United States | USD 456.66 M | USD 74.68 M | – | |
A platform for sharing and accessing academic research papers is provided. | 2008 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 58.4 M | – | – | |
Developer of molecular diagnostic testing solutions | 1996 | Sunnyvale, California, United States | USD 19.1 M | USD 54.88 M | 208 |
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Frequently Asked Questions about Univercells
Univercells was founded in 2013 and raised its 1st funding round 2 years after it was founded.
Univercells is headquartered in Charleroi, Belgium. It is registered at Charleroi, Walloon Region, Belgium.
Univercells is a funded company, having raised a total of $150.64M across 10 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Series A of $3.28M, raised on Oct 2015.
Univercells has 87 employees.
Annual revenue of Univercells is $22.55M as on Dec 31, 2022.
Univercells was established in 2013 in Charleroi, Belgium, to focus on biomanufacturing technologies for the biopharma sector. Instrument systems have been developed for producing antibodies, proteins, and vaccines. Proprietary platforms, including the Scale-X bioreactor and Nevoline, are utilized for upstream processing of viral products. These technologies support the delivery of viral vaccines and gene therapies through scalable bioprocessing solutions.
Univercells's top competitors include Sutro Biopharma, Synthego and Avidity Biosciences.
Univercells has made 1 acquisition, including SynHelix.
Univercells has 20 investors. Key investors include KKR, Korea Investment Holdings, Gates Foundation, European Investment Bank, and Farallon Capital Management.
Univercells operates through Univercells Sa.