faCellitate, a BASF spin-off, closes a €3.7m seed round led by SARSTEDT and HTGF

September 7, 2022

Proprietary intelligent polymer surface coating platform enables development of first-in-class lab materials for modern cell culture applications

• Closing of seed round completed raising €3.7 million from SARSTEDT, High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), R3 Consulting, ARVE Capital, ROI Verwaltungsgesellschaft and Chemovator.
• faCellitate has developed an intelligent and ultra-low attachment polymer surface coating platform. The first launched product thereof is targeting 3D cell culture, enabling simple, reliable, and reproducible 3D cell cultivation that challenges the industry’s gold standard. The roll out of further products on this basis is underway.
• faCellitate’s platform is suitable for coating a wide range of plastic and glassware. Together with the ability of targeted chemical modification of the polymer coating, this enables the solution of numerous unsolved problems in cell culture and industrial facility applications.

Mannheim, 07.09.2022 – Mannheim-based life science startup faCellitate has successfully raised 3.7 million Euro in its closing of seed funding. On board are well-known investors such as SARSTEDT, HTGF, R3 Consulting, ROI Verwaltungsgesellschaft, ARVE Capital and Chemovator.

The faCellitate team under the leadership of co-founder and CEO Simon Widmaier, develops polymeric surface coatings for plastic and glassware enabling multiple applications, such as 3-dimensional cell culture, cell and protein repellent surface environment or chemistry driven material surface modifications. The company´s first product, a 96-well-plate with a highly anti-adhesive surface coating, BIOFLOAT™, is ideal for the rapid and reliable production of perfect 3D spheroids which are suitable as in vitro-model in fundamental research and drug development and providing advantages over existing products. These unique properties make it a premium product for 3D cell culture and give scientists a fast and highly reliable tool to drive their research.

The company is currently working on introducing further plate formats, launching new product lines based on its proprietary platform technology, and further increasing the company value by leveraging cross-selling opportunities building on the existing customer base.

The company was formed at Chemovator, the internal venture builder of BASF, and consequently spun-off end of 2021.

We are stoked by the fact that faCellitate is attracting very experienced investors participating in our journey, sharing our vision and giving us the opportunity to contribute to life science innovation. In addition to players from the VC world, SARSTEDT, a high caliber strategic investor, has joined the list of shareholders. With the money raised we can go full steam ahead and apply our technology platform to develop more high-end products needed in modern biotechnology labs.

Dr. Simon Widmaier, CEO of faCellitate

With one product already on the market enjoying excellent customer feedback, and several products to be launched within the next 12 to 24 months, faCellitate is well positioned for an excellent future.

Dr. Klaus Schollmeier, chairman of the board of directors of facCellitate

faCellitate’s team has already achieved initial success in delivering a unique coating technology with unparalleled proven product performance having the potential to unlock new pathways for research and science around the world – we at SARSTEDT are very enthusiastic to participate in faCellitate’s journey.

Timo Schretzmair, CFO of SARSTEDT

Robust and reliable 3D cell culture systems are increasingly becoming an integral part of biomedical drug and target screening. Together with our co-investors, we look forward to further expanding faCellitate’s product portfolio and pipeline.

Dr. Angelika Vlachou, Principal at High-Tech Gründerfonds

About facellitate
faCellitate develops patented polymeric surface coatings for plastic and glassware enabling 3-dimensional cell culture, amongst other uses. Initially, the technology was developed at the BASF research department for polymers. The company and team were formed at Chemovator during a nearly three year incubation period and spun-off end of 2021. During the period at Chemovator from BASF, the company turned the technology platform into a pipeline of high-tech applications and start building an international digital marketing platform.
faCellitate is also advancing its platform technology into other areas. Under the brand BIOINSTRUCT™, the company is applying its technology to modify polymer coated surfaces with peptides to create biospecific lab material surfaces for customers. faCellitate has its offices in Mannheim in a startup incubator environment and its labs in Heidelberg.

For further information, please visit https://facellitate.com/ and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Media contact: faCellitate GmbH, Barbara Koncseg, barbara.koncseg@facellitate.com

About SARSTEDT
SARSTEDT AG & Co. KG develops, manufactures and distributes equipment and consumables for medicine and life sciences. Its core philosophy is to deliver reliable high-quality and high-performance services from the initial idea through to sales. The majority of products are developed in its own development center, approximately 90% of the products are manufactured at own production sites and sold around the world for the most part through own sales organizations. Worldwide this has led to SARSTEDT being recognized as one of the leading suppliers in this industry.
Since its foundation in 1961, SARSTEDT has grown continuously and currently employs approximately 3,000 people worldwide. Headquartered in Nümbrecht, Germany, the SARSTEDT Group comprises 34 sales companies and 15 production facilities globally.
Further information at www.sarstedt.com.

About R³ consulting & investment GmbH
We are a privately owned investment company and advisory office investing in opportunities in various sectors with a slight focus on technology-driven regional startups and seed-investing companies who seek active involvement of their investors.

About ROI Verwaltungsgesellschaft
ROI Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, founded in 1981, is the investment company of Roland Oetker ROI has a focus on high tech companies including but not limited to biotech and medtech.

About ARVE Capital
Arve Capital is the venture capital arm of the Sanner Family Office with an investment focus on early-stage technology companies in the area of health and well-being. Based on the entrepreneurial roots in the healthcare sector, Arve Capital is a dedicated long-term partner for passionate founders on their mission to ensure and promote healthy lives.

AboutChemovator GmbH
Chemovator GmbH is the internal venture builder of BASF, available for all BASF employees with innovative business ideas. Complementary to the existing innovation landscape of BASF, Chemovator offers a protected environment to accelerate speed to market for new products, digital business models or comprehensive all-round solutions – significant is the reference to chemistry.
The wholly-owned subsidiary of BASF New Business GmbH is located in Mannheim. Here, Chemovator offers an unconventional start-up environment with plenty of space for creativity. From early orientation phase to successful commercialization, the Venture Teams are supported by experienced entrepreneurs and investors, who have built startups and new businesses from scratch. Their support ranks from coaching over mentoring to providing extended network opportunities.
Further information at www.chemovator.com

About High-Tech Gründerfonds
High–Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) is a seed investor that finances high-potential, tech-driven start-ups. With around EUR 900 million in total investment volume across three funds and an international network of partners, HTGF has already helped forge more than 670 start-ups since 2005. With the start of HTGF IV, more than EUR 400 million in fund volume will be added in the fall of 2022. Driven by their expertise, entrepreneurial spirit and passion, its team of experienced investment managers and startup experts help guide the development of young companies. HTGF’s focus is on high-tech start-ups in the fields of digital tech, industrial technology, life sciences, chemistry and related business areas. To date, external investors have injected more than EUR 4 billion into the HTGF portfolio via more than 1,900 follow-on financing rounds. HTGF has also successfully sold interests in more than 160 companies.

Fund Investors in the public-private partnership include the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, KfW Capital, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and many companies from a wide range of industries.

Media Contact
High-Tech Gründerfonds Management GmbH
Stefanie Grüter, Head of Marketing & Communications
T.: +49 228 – 82300 – 188
s.grueter@htgf.de

Investor Contact
High-Tech Gründerfonds Management GmbH
Dr. Angelika Vlachou, Principal
T.: +49 30 – 4036648 – 50
a.vlachou@htgf.de