Automata has raised US$45m in a series C round to accelerate its lab automation platform for life sciences.
The London-based company is building fully integrated, AI-ready platforms that combine modular robotics, orchestration software and unified data infrastructure to turn physical labs into programmable systems.
The company said the funding will be used to scale customer deployments across pharma, biotech and research organisations globally, as well as develop its data and closed-loop experimentation software platform.
Closed-loop experimentation refers to systems that can run tests, analyse results and use the findings to guide the next round of experiments.
The round was led by Dimension with participation from Danaher Ventures, Tru Arrow Partners, Octopus Ventures and Entrepreneurs First, among others. It also includes a strategic investment partnership with Danaher Corporation.
Murali Venkatesan PhD, global head of Danaher Ventures and vice president of science technology and innovation, is joining Automata’s board of directors.
Automata now counts five top pharma companies among its customers, with growth said to be driven by repeat deployments and partnerships on automation projects.
Mostafa Elsayed, chief executive of Automata, said: “AI-first biology requires fundamentally different infrastructure. We’re building the operating layer between AI models and the physical lab – enabling labs to run autonomously rather than as bespoke workshops.
“This funding allows us to scale that vision with customers who are already redefining what’s possible in experimental science.”
The Danaher investment partnership aims to link Automata’s platform with Danaher’s portfolio of instruments, reagents and software.
Technologies from Danaher companies, including Molecular Devices and Beckman Coulter Life Sciences, will integrate Automata’s software.
Murali Venkatesan said: “Advancements in robotics and automation, AI, compute, and instrumentation are powering the next wave of biological insights.
“We are proud to partner with Automata to accelerate customer workflows across drug discovery and development, foundational model development for biological systems, and automate advanced diagnostics.”
Nan Li, founder and managing partner of Dimension, said: “Scalable, software-defined lab operations are foundational to the AI wave in life science.
“Automata is building the technology stack to power modern labs and has emerged as a leader in this exciting new chapter for lab automation.”
The new funding will also be used to expand global operations, growing engineering, product and customer success teams.
