Biotech company Eyestem’s valuation surges 70% in Series B round

Clinical-stage biotech company Eyestem Research recently secured $10 million in a Series B round led by Prabhavati Agro Green Energies with the participation of Jacesa Investments, BNS Capital, Alkem Labs, among others.

The Bengaluru-based company did not disclose key details such as its post-money valuation and shareholding structure in its announcement. Entrackr has sifted through the regulatory filings to uncover the critical details.

The board at Eyestem has issued 45,502 Series B compulsory convertible preference shares at an issue price of Rs 19,010 each to raise the above-mentioned amount.

Prabhavati Agro Green Energies led the round with Rs 45 crore ($5.2 million), followed by Jacesa Investments with Rs 17 crore. Fastspeed Vanijya and angel investor Inderjit Kaur Arora invested Rs 5 crore each, while existing investors Alkem Laboratories and NATCO Pharma contributed Rs 4 crore and Rs 2 crore, respectively. The remaining amount was covered by BNS Capital, Satprem Trust, and other angel investors.

According to Entrackr’s estimates, Eyestem’s valuation jumped nearly 70% to Rs 592 crore ($67 million) post-money, from Rs 350 crore in its previous Series A round of $6.4 million raised in August 2022.

According to startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, Eyestem has raised around $20 million to date. Following the latest allotment, Jacesa Investments became the largest external shareholder with a 12.5% stake, followed by Cytespace and Endiya Partners, which hold 9.64% and 7.12%, respectively. New investor Prabhavati Agro Green Energies holds 6.76%, while co-founders Jogin Desai and Rajani Battu collectively retain 21.19%.

Founded in 2015 by Jogin Desai, Rajani Battu, and Rajarshi Pal, Eyestem is developing cell replacement therapies for incurable eye diseases. The Bengaluru-based firm is working on Eyecyte-RPE, a treatment for dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) that uses retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells derived from human stem cells to restore damaged retinal tissue.

The company remains in the pre-revenue stage and has not reported any operating income; instead, it earned Rs 2.92 crore in non-operating income in FY24. During the same period, it posted a net loss of Rs 12.18 crore. Its FY25 numbers are yet to be disclosed.