Nuclera Secures $12M in Series C Extension to Enhance Protein Discovery

Nuclera, a UK-based biotech startup, has raised an additional $12 million in its Series C funding round, bringing the total to $87 million. This funding aims to accelerate the discovery of proteins, a critical step in developing new drugs. The extension was led by Elevage Medical Technologies and biotech entrepreneur Jonathan Milner, with continued support from the British Business Bank and GK Goh.

The latest investment is not intended for broad expansion but focuses on enhancing Nuclera’s antibody-specific capabilities within its eProtein Discovery benchtop system. This platform is designed to streamline the traditionally fragmented processes of protein expression, purification, and validation, potentially reducing timelines from months to just days.

Revolutionizing Antibody Discovery

Founded in 2013 at the University of Cambridge by Michael Chen, Jiahao Huang, and Gordon Herling-McInroy, Nuclera’s mission is to address the bottleneck in scientific research that often occurs at the protein stage. The enhanced eProtein Discovery system will facilitate in-house antibody expression, purification, and binding validation. By producing high-throughput, standardized outputs, the platform fosters the generation of robust datasets that are increasingly crucial as artificial intelligence (AI) plays a larger role in protein engineering.

Nuclera’s integrated approach to antibody workflows aims to build a strong infrastructure for next-generation drug discovery. The ability to generate scalable and high-quality protein data is essential for training predictive models in biologics, making this system a significant asset in the field.

Recent Achievements and Future Directions

Prior to this funding extension, Nuclera closed a $75 million Series C round in 2024. Since then, the company has made notable strides, including the introduction of a membrane protein workflow and expanding its customer base across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) and Middle East regions. Additionally, Nuclera has collaborated with Cytiva to expedite the process from genetic sequence to fully characterized proteins.

The practical application of the eProtein Discovery system has been validated through its installation at Domainex, marking the first deployment of the technology within a contract research organization. This move demonstrates the real-world demand for faster and more reliable protein production services.

Combining unique cell-free expression systems with innovative digital microfluidics, the eProtein Discovery platform provides invaluable guidance on which proteins are most likely to succeed in early stages. This approach significantly reduces the time, cost, and uncertainty that typically accompany protein expression and purification.

Dr. Michael Chen, CEO and co-founder of Nuclera, emphasized the importance of this funding: “This financing underscores our growing momentum and demonstrates that we are expanding eProtein Discovery into one of the fastest-growing segments of biologics R&D. Scientists increasingly require scalable, high-quality datasets to power AI models in biologics discovery. We are positioning Nuclera to become a foundational platform for the future of protein and antibody engineering, ultimately accelerating therapeutic discovery timelines.”

As Nuclera continues to innovate and expand its capabilities, the company is well-positioned to play a pivotal role in the future of drug discovery and development.