Glight Bio Completes Tens of Millions RMB Angel+ Round to Accelerate Localization of High-End Life Science Instruments

VCBeat Exclusively Learns: The World’s Leading Platform for Cell Screening and Functional CharacterizationZhuoguang Biotechnology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Zhuoguang Biotechnology”)Recently announced the completion of a tens-of-millions-yuan Angel+ round of financing, led byInno Angel FundLead investor,Nanshan Venture Capital, Heding Gong Capital, Lingyi Capital, Shanghai Angel FoundationCo-investment. The funds raised in this round will be primarily used for Zhuoguang BiotechnologyTechnical Upgrades of Optoelectronic Microfluidic Product Lines and Development and Application of Bio-MEMSas well as expanding the marketing network and improving the service application system, to promote the localization of high-end life science instruments.

Zhuoguang Biotechnology is one of the few companies globally and a leader in China to independently master core optoelectronic tweezer manipulation technologies, committed to providing the industry with innovative cell screening tools that offer high throughput, high efficiency, high precision, and low cost.. The company boasts an R&D team composed of scientists from leading universities and industry engineers, successfully bridging the gap from proof-of-concept prototypes to mass-produced units. It has achieved independent research and development across hardware, software, and consumables, dedicated to applying advanced optoelectronic tweezers and microfluidics technologies to fields such as life sciences, materials science, and nanotechnology.

Zhuoguang Biotechnology brings together interdisciplinary talents across optics, mechanics, electronics, automation, analytical chemistry, software engineering, and other fields. Headquartered in Nanshan, Shenzhen, the company’s R&D center is capable of independent forward-engineering R&D, achieving domestic self-sufficiency in the core components of optoelectronic tweezers manipulation instruments, while continuously driving cross-disciplinary innovations in AI and big data to accelerate product updates and iterations. Its production center enables scaled and systematic assembly and manufacturing, ensuring complete in-house production from modules to whole machines and consumables, thereby guaranteeing product capacity and stability.

In the life sciences field, cell screening has a wide range of application scenarios and serves as a core component in antibody discovery and cell line development. It is indispensable across various domains, including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, drug screening, and extracellular detection. Zhuoguang Biotechnology has successively deployed its OptoBot, an optoelectronic tweezer manipulation instrument.^®The series has achieved a fully localized product portfolio, catering to both research and industrial clients. Users can select different chip consumables based on their throughput requirements, enabling industry users to enjoy more efficient services at lower costs.

The left figure showsOptoBot^®500, OptoBot is shown on the right.^®1000

In addition to optoelectronic tweezer manipulation instruments, Zhuoguang Biotechnology has also laid out bio-microelectromechanical systems (Bio-MEMS), expanding into a more diversified and comprehensive product matrix, such as the structured light projection platform OptoNeuroBot.^®and the digital microfluidics platform DropletBot^TM. With a synchronized presence on two major platforms, the new products have been adopted by multiple customers since their launch, securing successive orders and sustaining rapid growth. Zhuoguang Biotechnology will further expand its global market footprint, actively pursuing a dual-drive strategy of domestic development and international expansion to bring Chinese intelligent manufacturing to the world.

Figure (left): Structured Light Projection Platform OptoNeuroBot^®, the right side of the figure shows the digital microfluidic platform DropletBot^TM

Xie Hainan, Co-founder & CEO of Zhuoguang BiotechnologyZhuoguang Biotechnology expressed its sincere gratitude to both new and existing shareholders for their strong support, extended special thanks to the efficient and pragmatic Zhuoguang team, and acknowledged the recognition and support from university clients. Currently, the company’s OptoBot® 500 has achieved favorable market acceptance. This year, we will intensify our marketing efforts and strive to launch the OptoBot® 1000 and 2000 models as soon as possible. Zhuoguang Biotechnology remains committed to continuous innovation and independent research and development, aiming to achieve genuine import substitution and provide superior solutions for fully automated cell culture and screening across the entire industry workflow.

Zhu Xiaocheng, Managing Partner of Innocore Angel FundInnoAngel Fund has long maintained a strong focus on the life sciences sector. We are confident in the robust R&D and commercialization capabilities of Zhuoguang Biotechnology’s university-affiliated and engineering teams, and we are honored to support the company’s growth. With broad application prospects in cell screening, Zhuoguang’s optoelectronic tweezers instrument provides an innovative tool for the industry, facilitating key processes such as antibody drug discovery, cell and gene therapy (CGT), and synthetic biology. We look forward to seeing them deliver more solutions to the industry.

Xiao Qing, Investment Director of Nanshan Venture CapitalZhuoguang Biotechnology has filled the gap in domestic high-end life science instruments by leveraging its proprietary optoelectronic tweezers technology and interdisciplinary R&D capabilities. Its products, characterized by high precision and low cost, empower core fields such as antibody drug development and gene therapy, aligning closely with the deep-tech ecosystem of Nanshan, Shenzhen. We are optimistic about its strategy of establishing a strong local presence while expanding globally, and we look forward to the team’s continued innovation in driving the upgrade of China’s biopharmaceutical industry chain and becoming a benchmark for the internationalization of Chinese scientific instruments.

Huang Xiaozhong, Investment Director at Heding CapitalIt was stated that the scientific instrument industry requires long-term accumulation, with continuous updates and iterations needed from core components to complete system manufacturing. The "chokehold" problem is severe for the scientific instrument industry, laboratories, and downstream industrial application users. Zhuoguang Biotechnology is one of the very few domestic companies that independently masters the core technology of optoelectronic tweezers manipulation. We are highly optimistic about the Zhuoguang team and believe they can fill a gap in China's domestic scientific instruments, making outstanding contributions to achieving self-reliance and controllability through "localization" in the biopharmaceutical industry.

Zheng Lianfa, Partner at Lingyi CapitalIt was stated that technological innovation in the life sciences sector is advancing at a rapid pace, as evidenced by developments such as CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, single-cell sequencing, and the application of artificial intelligence in medical imaging diagnostics. The emergence of these new technologies necessitates corresponding instruments and equipment for their implementation and support. We are optimistic about the products and innovative capabilities of the Zhuoguang Biotechnology team.

Inno Angel Fund was established in April 2013, manages billions of RMB, and has invested in over 500 innovative projects to date. It focuses on next-generation information technology, new energy and new materials, advanced manufacturing, biotechnology, and other sectors, primarily investing at the angel and Pre-A stages. In the future, it will remain committed to early-stage investment, striving to be the first to issue a check to entrepreneurs. Join hands with Inno to invest in innovation, achieving mutual success by helping others succeed.

Shenzhen Nanshan Venture Capital Co., Ltd. is affiliated with the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Nanshan District, Shenzhen. As a state-owned venture capital firm deeply rooted in Nanshan with a global outlook, it provides comprehensive services to entrepreneurs. The scale of funds managed and participated in by the company exceeds RMB 5 billion. Its investment portfolio includes Dynanonic, United Winners Laser, Cambricon, Weidian Biology, Huafu Information, and Tenfen Technology. Focusing on next-generation information technology, intelligent manufacturing, healthcare, and new materials, Nanshan Venture Capital serves entrepreneurs through an integrated model of “incubation + venture capital + in-depth post-investment support.”

Hedinggong’s investments primarily focus on China’s national and societal needs and industrial development trends over the next decade, including sectors such as next-generation information technology (including artificial intelligence), advanced manufacturing, new energy, new materials, biotechnology and healthcare, semiconductors, and electronic devices. Hedinggong seeks investment opportunities across various stages of startup development, with a primary emphasis on early-stage rounds such as seed, angel, and Series A. Adopting an investment philosophy of “patient capital,” Hedinggong enables founding teams to grow steadily and realize their entrepreneurial dreams through long-term partnership, thereby delivering social returns from a long-term perspective.

Lingyi Capital was established in 2022 as an early-stage venture capital firm specializing in investments from seed to Series A rounds. Currently managing funds exceeding RMB 1 billion, the firm was jointly founded by seasoned investors and founders of multiple publicly listed companies, leveraging extensive industrial resources and profound investment expertise. The fund focuses on investment opportunities in deep tech, healthcare, artificial intelligence, and new consumption sectors. Guided by its mission to “accompany outstanding entrepreneurs from zero to the future,” Lingyi Capital acts as a co-founder to startups through investment incubation and resource empowerment, aiming to enhance the success rate of early-stage ventures. By providing comprehensive support to entrepreneurial endeavors, the firm works hand-in-hand with founders to shape the future of China’s economy in this new era.

Shanghai Angel Club is a specialized angel investment service platform, key-built by the Shanghai Institute of Sci-Tech Innovation Finance under the guidance of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government. It aims to cultivate the angel investment ecosystem, guide social capital to invest in early-stage, small-scale, and hard-tech ventures, promote the deep integration of angel investment with frontier innovation and entrepreneurship, facilitate the transfer and commercialization of scientific and technological achievements, and support the development of Shanghai as an international financial center and an international science and technology innovation center.