LinkZill Secures Tens of Millions of RMB in Series A Funding to Accelerate TFT-Based Life Science Product Delivery and Global Expansion

Recently, Hangzhou LinkZill Technology Co., Ltd. (LinkZill, hereinafter referred to as LinkZill) completed a tens-of-millions-yuan Series A financing round exclusively invested by Proxima Capital. The funds from this round will be used to accelerate product delivery and expand into the global market.

LinkZill, established in 2019 and headquartered in Hangzhou, China, operates R&D and business centers in Cambridge, UK. In 2023, LinkZill invested in the construction of the Hangzhou Thin-Film Transistor (TFT) Semiconductor R&D Center, dedicated to advancing the global cross-industrial application of TFT semiconductor technologies in life sciences, novel sensing, and display fields. Currently, LinkZill serves over 300 clients worldwide, with its business presence spanning more than 20 countries and regions. The company has been recognized as a National High-Tech Enterprise, a Zhejiang Provincial “Specialized, Refined, Differential, and Innovative” SME, and a Zhejiang Provincial High-Tech Enterprise R&D Center.

LinkZill Desktop TFT-DNA Synthesizer

LinkZill has chosen “TFT semiconductor-based DNA synthesis technology with flexible throughput and flexible loading capacity” as the industrialization direction for its first life sciences product.Its first life sciences instrument—the desktop TFT-DNA synthesizer—is the world’s first DNA synthesis terminal device to employ the TFT chip method.This device not only pioneers a novel technological pathway but also mitigates risks associated with chip trade barriers, fully leveraging the advantages of China’s TFT semiconductor supply chain to transform TFT semiconductor chips into low-cost, large-area, mass-producible consumables for life science equipment.

LinkZill has achieved commercialization spanning from terminal equipment and chip consumables to synthetic products: it has completed deliveries to angel customers covering three product forms—oligonucleotide microarrays, oligonucleotide pools, and genes—and launched its first standardized product, the Zhirui TruArray™ Std 4K High-Throughput Oligonucleotide Microarray.Meanwhile, the research and development of various synthetic products from LinkZill, including the TruPool™ 4K-throughput oligonucleotide pools and 65K to 1M-throughput oligonucleotide microarrays, is advancing rapidly, with launches expected throughout this year. LinkZill is also continuously expanding the application scenarios, supporting toolchains, and comprehensive solutions for its life science products, covering areas such as spatial transcriptomics, rapid pathogen detection, and AI-assisted protein design, thereby becoming the most capable partner for customers in the era of AI for Science.

LinkZill Zhirui TruArray™ Std 4K High-Throughput Oligonucleotide Microarray

Guided by its core values of “Leading with Technology, Sincere as One,” LinkZill is dedicated to ensuring that technology better serves humanity. In the future, LinkZill will continue to deepen its expertise in underlying TFT technologies, building a more comprehensive, fully domesticated, and independently controllable ecosystem for life sciences equipment. The company aims to create a complete toolchain for life sciences that serves fields such as synthetic biology, innovative drug R&D, high-throughput biotechnology, and point-of-care testing (POCT). Leveraging China’s robust and mature TFT semiconductor manufacturing industry, LinkZill aspires to spark a new paradigm shift in the global life sciences sector.

LinkZill’s Partner Team stated:Amid the capital winter, we are deeply grateful to both new and existing shareholders for demonstrating strong confidence in China’s original technological innovation during this round of financing. The entire team at LinkZill will uphold and safeguard this confidence, creating substantial commercial value while generating significant social impact. We look forward to LinkZill’s continued robust growth, shining on the global stage as a leading force in the cross-industrial commercialization of TFT semiconductors, representing China with pride!

Proxima Capital stated:Proxima Capital Leads Exclusive Series A Investment in LinkZill, Betting on Its Ability to Integrate TFT Semiconductor Chip Technology Across Global Life Sciences SectorsCompared to traditional CMOS chips, TFT technology offers significant advantages. First, TFT chips provide greater scalability for large-area and flexible production, overcoming the bottlenecks associated with tight CMOS foundry capacity, high process complexity, and long lead times. Second, TFT demonstrates superior adaptability in interdisciplinary applications. For instance, when LinkZill applies TFT chips to life science scenarios such as digital microfluidics, high-throughput DNA synthesis, and customized DNA and protein synthesis, it can leverage the mature driver systems and material ecosystems of the display industry to achieve rapid technology transfer. Third, China holds a unique global advantage in the TFT sector. Given the substantial investments required for TFT development and the lack of such industrial foundations in other countries, leveraging China’s globally leading supporting supply chain can significantly reduce costs for equipment customization and material procurement.

The core members of LinkZill’s team graduated from top-tier universities both in China and abroad, previously held positions at leading industry enterprises, and possess exceptional professional expertise, mastering the full spectrum of technologies from TFT chip design to system integration. Furthermore, the company has assembled a diverse and high-performing elite team by bringing together experts from the life sciences industry, as well as key customers and suppliers. We firmly believe that with the deep convergence of life sciences and semiconductor technologies, LinkZill’s products and services will bring revolutionary changes to the global life sciences sector. We look forward to LinkZill continuing to leverage its technological advantages, overcoming R&D challenges, refining toolchain design and technology selection, establishing a closed-loop business model, and promoting the widespread application of TFT semiconductor chips in the field of life sciences.

Proxima Capital manages multiple RMB and USD-denominated funds, focusing on identifying, investing in, and fostering exceptional medical technology innovators with significant growth potential. The Proxima Capital team boasts diverse, international expertise, professional backgrounds, and resource networks, along with extensive clinical resources, industrialization experience, and entrepreneurial track records. The fund has invested in over 70 companies, helped establish more than 30 of them, and supported over 50 global first-in-class products.