HiberGene Diagnostics, led by Brendan Farrell, has topped up its equity base with a €1.5m funding round completed in December.

Farrell, who formerly worked with Crescent Diagnostics and Trinity Biotech, rounded up €1.4m from private investors and €475,000 from Kerneal Capital in December 2014. The taxpayer is into the venture for €200,000 through Enterprise Ireland.

HiberGene has its roots in Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital, where doctors developed a diagnostic test for meningitis. One of the doctors, Joe Kidney, alerted his brother in Dublin, Peter Kidney, who brought the idea to Farrell. Fundraising commenced in April 2014, with KPMG acting in an advisory capacity for a 4.5% commission.

The capital has been mostly raised using the Employment and Investment Incentive (EII) scheme. Prominent backers include members of the Spollen family. Brendan Gilmore invested E400,000 in the latest round. HiberGene is advised by law firm Eversheds.

Photo:  Dawn Walsh (left), Kernel Capital; Brendan Farrell; Kevin Healy, Bank of Ireland; and Margot Marsden, Enterprise Ireland

In Association with