Nuclera has extended its Series C funding to a total of USD $87 million following a $12 million financing led by Elevage Medical Technologies and Jonathan Milner, alongside existing investors British Business Bank and GK Goh.

The additional investment will accelerate the integration of antibody expression and binding validation into Nuclera’s eProtein Discovery benchtop system, which enables high-throughput protein screening, characterization, and expression in-house.

The expansion of eProtein Discovery into antibody-specific capabilities represents a strategic step as Nuclera moves further into AI-enabled protein engineering. By providing standardized, high-quality datasets, the system is designed to support next-generation AI models in biologics discovery, allowing researchers to perform end-to-end expression, purification, and binding validation of full-format antibodies on a single integrated platform.

Dr Michael Chen, CEO and co-founder of Nuclera, said: “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.”

Since the previous Series C financing in 2024, Nuclera has advanced its eProtein Discovery capabilities with a membrane protein workflow, extended its global footprint to broaden customer access across APAC and the Middle East, and initiated a collaboration with Cytiva to streamline the path from DNA to fully purified proteins, enhancing understanding of drug-target interactions. The system has also been implemented at Domainex, the first CRO installation, further validating its scientific and commercial impact.

Dr Michael Wasserman, chief operating officer of Elevage Medical Technologies, said: “Since our initial investment, Nuclera has made meaningful progress in expanding the capabilities, adoption, and global reach of the eProtein Discovery platform.

“The extension of the system into full-format antibody expression, purification, and binding validation represents a significant step forward, particularly as biologics discovery becomes increasingly driven by AI-enabled workflows that require scalable, high-quality datasets. Elevage is proud to continue supporting Nuclera as it evolves into a foundational platform for protein and antibody engineering, helping researchers accelerate discovery timelines and reduce friction across the drug development process.”

The company’s approach combines unique cell-free expression systems, digital microfluidics, and robust screening data to identify proteins with the highest chance of success early in the process, reducing the traditional time, cost, and uncertainty associated with protein expression and purification.

Dr Jonathan Milner, chairman of the Nuclera board and founder of Meltwind Advisory, added: “Nuclera is solving one of the most pressing bottlenecks in biologics discovery – the slow, fragmented, and resource-intensive process of synthesising full-format antibodies. The team’s success in membrane proteins, one of the most challenging protein classes, combined with their microfluidic expertise, places them in a unique position to transform antibody development workflows.”

With this funding, Nuclera aims to solidify eProtein Discovery as a scalable platform for antibody engineering and AI-driven biologics discovery, providing researchers with tools to accelerate therapeutic development across multiple protein classes and indications.