Ramona Optics, a biomedical imaging technology company based in Durham, North Carolina, has raised $25 million in an oversubscribed Series A financing round led by ARCH Venture Partners. Additional investors include Stealthpoint Ventures, ND Capital, Fall Line Capital, Hamamatsu Ventures, Murchison Capital Partners, and Overlap Holdings. The company will use the funding to expand commercial operations, advance its proprietary microscopy technology, and develop additional capabilities for biomedical research and drug discovery.
Ramona develops Multi-Camera Array Microscopy (MCAM) technology, which combines multiple imaging sensors, computational optics, and artificial intelligence to capture high-resolution biological images across large areas.
Conventional microscopy often requires researchers to choose between a large field of view and high image resolution. Ramona’s technology is designed to overcome this limitation by capturing detailed biological information across larger areas simultaneously.
The company’s system combines optics, illumination, sensing, and computation to provide the imaging capabilities of multiple conventional microscopes within a compact instrument.
Ramona has introduced two commercial systems based on its technology: Vireo, designed for cellular models, and Kestrel, developed for small model organisms. Both systems incorporate AI-powered analysis to help researchers interpret large volumes of biological imaging data.
The platforms are intended for use in pharmaceutical research, biomedical laboratories, and other scientific environments where researchers need to observe biological processes across large numbers of samples. Their ability to capture and analyze extensive datasets could support drug discovery, disease research, and the development of new diagnostic approaches.
The company plans to use the financing to expand its commercial footprint, increase adoption among academic and pharmaceutical customers, and develop additional assays that can operate on its microscopy platforms.
Ramona’s technology portfolio is supported by 29 patents, while its interdisciplinary team includes 12 PhDs with expertise spanning computational imaging, machine learning, computer architecture, cancer biology, and neuroscience.
Gregor Horstmeyer leads the company as CEO, alongside co-founders Mark Harfouche, Chief Technology Officer, and Roarke Horstmeyer, Scientific Director. Roarke Horstmeyer is also an associate professor of biomedical engineering at Duke University.
KEY QUOTES:
“For centuries, microscopes have been designed for the human eye. Our MCAM technology is built for computation – because while seeing is believing, it isn’t quantitative. Today, advancing drug candidates and making accurate diagnoses requires statistically meaningful data: many measurements, not just one, to make sound decisions. This fundamental shift enables us to use AI to extract insights from massive, high-definition datasets that are simply beyond the reach of human observation.”
Gregor Horstmeyer, CEO of Ramona Optics
“At ARCH, we look for breakthrough science paired with stellar teams that can build versatile platforms and deliver real-world impact. Ramona has developed a fundamentally new class of microscopy technology and translated it into commercial systems that are already being adopted by customers in academia and industry. Its massively parallel imaging and on-the-fly analysis generate the scale and consistency of data required to build AI models on biology that was previously too slow or too costly to observe.”
Patrick Weiss, Venture Partner at ARCH Venture Partners and Chairman of Ramona Optics
