Microcaps Closes CHF 5 Million Seed Financing Round Co-led by Helvetica Capital and Zürcher Kantonalbank

Microcaps AG, a developer of formulation, processes and equipment to generate precision microcapsules, announced today that it has closed a CHF 5 million seed financing round co-led by Helvetica Capital and Zürcher Kantonalbank. The ETH Zurich Foundation, the Lichtsteiner Foundation and a group of Swiss entrepreneurs participated significantly in the financing. Microcaps has co-developed many proprietary formulations with industrial clients and will use the proceeds of the financing to launch its first product, a customized microcapsule production unit and associated consumables for sample batch sizes, and grow its team, which will be based at new corporate facilities in Zurich.

“Microcaps is one of those unique companies that has developed an innovative technology that will have significant impact across multiple industries. We are very impressed with the progress made, and the size and relevance of the many market opportunities for Microcaps’ technology applications,” said Johannes Suter, CEO at Helvetica Capital.

Microcaps has developed a proprietary method to manufacture microcapsules in identical sizes that are used in pharmaceuticals, nutrition, cosmetics and other branches of industry. This means they all have exactly the same effect, with dosage and delivery rate of the active ingredient completely controlled. For drugs, this will allow precision dosing that could result in fewer side effects. In addition, the microcapsules with a controlled size can be produced 1000 times faster than with currently available devices.

“We are very thankful to all of our investors who have helped Microcaps to get to this stage. We have already registered our first revenues from formulation development and are about to launch our first production unit to customers. This significant progress could not have been made possible without our dedicated and talented team,” said Dr. Alessandro Ofner, co-founder and co-CEO of Microcaps.

“The financing will help Microcaps grow and scale-up our operations, taking us to that next level in our corporate development plan. We have seen increased interest in our formulation capabilities and production offerings and will use this financing to continue to build on this momentum,” added Michael Hagander, co-founder and co-CEO.

About Microcaps

Microcaps’s unique and patented technology allows the development and manufacturing of microcapsules at an unmatched precision and efficiency. This provides customers with tailored microencapsulation solutions that enable precise release of contents. Offering individual benefits for different applications; controlled release, targeted delivery, and shear-free encapsulation, the technology has its largest impact potential in the fields of pharmaceuticals, nutrition and cosmetics. In 2018, co-founders Alessandro Ofner and Michael Hagander received the pioneer fellowship award from the ETH Zurich Foundation, which allowed them to start Microcaps. In 2020, Microcaps won the ZKB Pionierpreis Technopark, one of the most prestigious startup prizes in Switzerland, sponsored by Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB). Further information can be found at www.microcaps.ch.

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