Belgian Startup SpectaCell Raises $6.5M to Speed Up Cancer Therapy Testing

Jan de Vries · 2026-10-09

### From Lab to Launch: SpectaCell's $6.5M Seed Round SpectaCell, a Ghent-based startup spun out of imec, VIB, and Ghent University, just launched with €6 million (about $6.5 million) in seed funding. The round was led by imec.xpand, with backing from PMV's Flanders Future Tech Fund, InnovationQuarter Capital, Qbic, and VIB. That's a strong vote of confidence for a company that's barely out of the gate. ### The Problem: Slow, Fuzzy Testing Immunotherapies are changing how we treat cancer and immune diseases. But predicting which treatments will work in patients—and making them consistently—is still a huge challenge. Current tests often measure indirect signals or averages across a sample, which can hide important differences between individual cells. That means researchers might miss critical clues about how a treatment actually behaves. As Tony Montoye, CEO and co-founder of SpectaCell, puts it: "Breakthrough medicines need breakthrough tools. Researchers need to know much earlier which candidates deserve further investment and why." ### The Solution: See Every Cell, In Hours SpectaCell's platform combines chip-based imaging with data analysis to track thousands of individual cells directly, at high resolution and over time. No fluorescent labels needed—so cells behave naturally. The result? Detailed insights in hours instead of days. - **For researchers:** compare drug candidates side by side. - **For development teams:** fine-tune production processes. - **For manufacturers:** check each batch against performance standards. The company is building a cartridge-based instrument that's easy to use, targeting pharma and biotech companies worldwide. It's designed to work from early research all the way to routine manufacturing quality checks. ### Why Investors Are Betting Big Benoit Devogelaere, Partner at imec.xpand, sees huge potential: "SpectaCell brings together disruptive semiconductor technology, an experienced team and a major commercial opportunity. We are convinced it can become essential to how new medicines are selected, developed and produced." With applications in cell therapies and T-cell engagers—treatments that help immune cells recognize and attack cancer—SpectaCell aims to set a new industry standard. The fresh capital will fuel further development and commercialization with pharma partners. ### What's Next? SpectaCell plans to use the funding to get its platform into the hands of more researchers and manufacturers. If successful, it could mean better medicines, sooner—for patients who can't wait. And that's something we can all root for.