Principia backs CrestOptics

Alessia Argentieri
26 June 2018

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Principia has invested €5m in Italian high-tech startup CrestOptics.

The VC firm drew capital from its healthcare-dedicated vehicle, Principia III – Health, to finance the investment. The fund was launched in 2014 and raised €206m, of which around €105m has so far been invested across 12 companies. In July 2017, the GP launched its fifth fund, Utopia, with a €70m target and a focus on the life sciences sector.

The company will use the fresh capital to expand its product offering in the microscopy industry and develop further its devices for the diagnostics sector, especially for the diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases and tumoral pathologies.

Previous funding
VC firm Aldabra Capital and Lazio Innova, formerly known as Filas, via its Por Fesr I.3 fund, invested €400,000 in CrestOptics in June 2013 and acquired a 35% stake in the business.

Company
Founded in 2012 and based in Rome, CrestOptics develops electro-optical technology for scientific and industrial applications, and designs and manufactures electro-optical devices for the fluorescence microscopy and spectroscopy sectors. Unquote understands that the company generated EBITDA of €1.4m in 2017, with a margin of 27.8%, from revenues of around €5m, of which 90% came from abroad.

People
CrestOptics – Vincenzo Ricco (scientific director, co-founder); Andrea Latini (president, co-founders); Franco Fazioli (co-founder, executive vice-president of engineering).

Advisers
Equity – Watson Farley & Williams (legal).
Company – Akran Intellectual Property (legal); Musumeci Altara Desana e Associati (legal); VFGS Avvocati Associati (legal).