Automata Raises £33m Series C to Build the Operating Layer Between AI and the Physical Lab

Automata, the London-based lab automation company, has announced the close of a £33m Series C funding round led by Dimension, with participation from Danaher Ventures, Tru Arrow Partners, Octopus Ventures and Entrepreneurs First. Alongside the financial investment, the round includes a strategic partnership with Danaher Corporation — one of the world's largest life sciences instrument companies — with Danaher's Global Head of Ventures, Murali Venkatesan PhD, joining Automata's Board of Directors. The deal brings Automata's total funding to over $150m and positions it as the software-defined operating layer connecting AI models to physical laboratory environments.

Artificial intelligence has transformed computational biology — models can now predict protein structures, identify drug candidates and simulate molecular interactions at unprecedented speed. But the physical execution of experiments in wet labs has not kept pace. Most laboratories still rely on manual, fragmented workflows where scientists set up, run and record experiments by hand, introducing variability, slowing iteration cycles and making it difficult to feed consistent data back to AI systems. This disconnect between computational capability and physical throughput is the central bottleneck in modern drug discovery.

Automata is building infrastructure to close that gap. Its LINQ platform combines modular robotics with orchestration software and unified data infrastructure, turning physical labs into programmable, repeatable, AI-ready systems. Experiments can be designed and executed with far greater consistency than manual processes allow, while the data generated feeds directly into AI-driven discovery workflows. The Danaher partnership extends this further: technologies from Danaher companies including Molecular Devices and Beckman Coulter Life Sciences will integrate with LINQ, creating end-to-end lab solutions that span instrumentation, reagents and software.

Automata's commercial traction is strong. Five of the world's top pharmaceutical companies are now customers, with growth driven by repeat deployments and large-scale automation programmes. The company has delivered measurable improvements in experimental throughput, reproducibility and resource efficiency across pharmaceutical, biotech and academic research environments. The new capital will fund global customer rollouts, expansion of engineering and product teams, and development of the next generation of Automata's data and closed-loop experimentation software — the layer that enables increasingly self-directed, AI-driven drug discovery.

The investment from Dimension, which led Automata's previous round, signals continued conviction from one of the firm's core backers, while the Danaher tie-up provides both distribution reach and instrument integration that could accelerate adoption across the broader life sciences ecosystem. As the race to build the infrastructure layer for AI-native biology intensifies, Automata's combination of robotics, software and now corporate strategic backing places it in a strong competitive position.

Sources

• Soapbox VC – Automata raises £33m Series C led by Dimension
• Business Wire – Automata Raises $45M Series C to Build the Operating System for AI-Ready Labs
• Wiley Analytical Science – Automata secures $45 million to power the autonomous lab era
• R&D World – Automata raises $45M to scale lab automation platform