A biotech in Morrisville has raised $25 million to facilitate the company's growth after hitting record revenue and margins in 2022.
The company, Metabolon, began raising money last year and recently closed on the equity round, the proceeds of which will support the company's commercial as well as research and development activities. The capital could also place the company on a path toward reaching profitability over the next couple of years.
Metabolon was founded in the Triangle more than 20 years ago and operated as a research and development-focused biotech up until about five or six years ago. That's when the company began its transition to a commercially driven organization, said CEO Rohan Hastie, who joined Metabolon in 2017 as the company's chief business officer. A year later, Hastie was promoted to chief executive after the company's former CEO and co-founder John Ryals retired.
The biotech's growth as a commercial organization has accelerated over recently, with Metabolon hitting record revenue last year. Hastie said the company grew more than 20 percent year-over-year through the end of 2022 and exceeded $50 million in revenue.
Through its technology, Metabolon helps customers, including academic institutions and pharmaceutical companies, answer biological questions by generating data around small molecules and delivering insights from that data. Hastie said the company offers a broad scientific tool that can be applied in all areas of life sciences research.
Two main factors have helped contributed to the company's growth, Hastie said. First, customers have become more familiar with Metabolon's technology as it has been included in more than 3,000 publications, which validates the company's data. Additionally, Hastie points to the company's investment in its sales and marketing operations.
The new funding will support new jobs as well. Metablon grew its headcount by less than 10 percent last year to its current employee base of about 230 people, including roughly 170 in the Triangle. The biotech could double that headcount growth rate this year and end 2023 with its employee base in the high 200s, Chief Financial Officer Gerry Haines said.
The funding should place the company on the path toward profitability, Haines said. When it comes time for Metabolon to again raise capital, the company could return to private raises or pursue an IPO. The latter could be a logical step for the company as it would provide a broader access to capital in larger amounts.
"It's important to establish that clear path toward profitability, which we expect to be within the next couple of years," Haines said.
New investors led this recent funding round, which also included participation from existing investors. The company didn't release the names of the investors. Prior to this round, Metabolon raised about $22 million in 2020.
