Business Weekly - Cambridge, UK

The manager of the £20m fund, CREATE, teamed up with German funder, OAR Kommunikation und Beratungs to back the Huntingdon-based developer of genomics research equipment.

NextGen declined to comment on the fundraising.

CREATE's mandate allows it to invest up to 10 per cent of the fund in any one company, but the standard model is for syndicated investments of up to £250k initially, with a further £250k potentially available.

Boyd Mulvey, chief executive of CREATE and Klaus Rosenau of OAR, have joined the company's board of directors as part of the investment.

NextGen secured first round funding in excess of £700k in January 2001 from Bio-Capital Ltd, the company founders (Dr Kevin Auton, CEO and David Wigley, director of operations) and private investors.

Bio-Capital retained the option for a further £1.7m worth of shares within eight months, although it is unclear as to whether it exercised its option.

NextGen has developed three products to date, aimed at automating genomics and proteomics research and became cash-positive in 2002.

It is also developing, in partnership with the University of Cambridge and Cambridge company Cytomyx a protein bio-chip which could help develop personalised treatments for breast cancer – a project funded by the DTI.

The East of England regional VC fund was beset by organisational problems before CREATE entered the fray and met the first-closing target of £20m. It now has until the summer to achieve a second-closing of up to £30m.