Merck venture arm backs £6.6m Abselion raise

The Series A round, was led by M Ventures (the strategic, corporate venture capital arm of Merck) and includes new investors BioProcess 360 Partners and Untitled Ventures, along with BGF, R42 and other existing backers. Oliver Hardick of M Ventures and Chris Major of BioProcess 360 Partners have joined the new Board.

Investors recognise the potential of the gold-standard on the spot analytics generated by Abselion’s Amperia Redox Electrochemical Detection technology to disrupt how bioprocess development operates, enhancing efficiency and accuracy in life science research and bioprocessing.

The cutting-edge benchtop instrument allows scientists to easily quantify antibodies, AAVs, and other proteins directly from crude samples in as little as one minute, providing critical data on the spot, enhancing efficiency and accuracy in life science research and bioprocessing.

Ruizhi Wang, CEO of Abselion, said: “We are delighted to have the support of our investment partners to advance our mission to provide scientists with critical real-time data at the point of need. The Amperia RED technology delivers the accuracy, speed and agility required for insights that enable confident decision-making, driving bioprocess optimisation and innovation.”

Dr Oliver Hardick, of M Ventures, commented: “Providing meaningful data as close to the process as possible is a crucial pillar of enabling improved bioprocess development and manufacturing robustness.

“Abselion’s Amperia system does exactly this by delivering gold-standard insights in minutes that Bioprocess teams typically wait days for. We are thrilled to lead this financing alongside our co-investors and to partner with the Abselion team as they expand this technology and broaden its technical capability through 2025 and beyond.

“We believe this will disrupt how Process Development operates today and we invite our colleagues in the industry to reach out to me or the Abselion team to explore this further.”