Neobe closes £5.1m seed round led by ARC Ventures with support from Macmillan Ventures
This article covers Neobe, a biotech startup, closing a seed funding round of £5.1m to accelerate development of engineered bacteria designed to break down the dense physical barriers that prevent cancer drugs and immune cells reaching solid tumours. The funding will support preclinical work on lead programme NEO22 and preparations for an investigational new drug filing targeted for 2028, aiming to enable existing therapies to reach more patients.
Neobe, a biotech startup, has closed a seed funding round of £5.1m to fast-track development of engineered bacteria designed to break down the dense physical barriers that prevent cancer drugs and immune cells reaching solid tumours. The money will support preclinical work on lead programme NEO22 and preparations for an investigational new drug filing targeted for 2028, bringing the company’s total financing to more than $10.5m (£7.9m) to date.
Why it matters
Many modern cancer therapies, including immunotherapies, fail not because they are biologically ineffective but because they cannot physically reach tumour cells. A dense, fibrous extracellular matrix around some tumours creates a barrier that blocks drug penetration and immune infiltration. If this obstacle can be safely and selectively removed, existing therapies could work for more patients.
Neobe’s approach targets that barrier rather than inventing a new anti-cancer agent: the company engineers benign bacteria to home to tumours and release enzymes that dissolve the surrounding matrix, potentially widening the range of patients who benefit from current drugs. Early preclinical evidence suggests this could both enable tumour regression and produce lasting immune memory in some models.
Inside the product
Neobe engineers non-pathogenic strains into programmable living medicines. According to the company, once injected the bacteria preferentially colonise tumours and secrete matrix-degrading enzymes to allow immune cells and co-administered drugs to access the malignant tissue.
In a 2026 paper in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, Neobe and collaborators at the University of Cyprus and Barts Cancer Institute tested the platform in models of triple negative breast cancer that were refractory to a common immunotherapy cocktail. The team reports that a single dose of engineered bacteria enabled complete tumour regression in one model and that, when rechallenged months later, no further tumours developed — a result the authors interpret as evidence of durable immune memory.
The current seed round will fund preclinical studies of NEO22 through to an IND filing aimed for 2028, and support expansions to the leadership team. Neobe recently appointed Dr Laura Chow, an immuno-oncology specialist, as chief medical officer to oversee clinical development; the company says a further tranche from this seed round will underwrite a first-in-human trial.
Who are the investors?
The round was led by ARC Ventures. Participating investors include Faber, Macmillan Ventures (the venture arm of Macmillan Cancer Support), Proven Connect and Empirical Ventures, with follow-on investment from pre-seed backers 2048 Ventures.
In the announcement, Joseph Korff, Founder of Arc Ventures, said:
We are excited to back Neobe Therapeutics’ differentiated approach to overcoming the physical barriers created by dense tumour matrices. Assets derived from Neobe’s platform will improve the efficacy of cancer therapies and extend their benefits to more patients.
In the announcement, Felix Litzkow, Head of Macmillan Ventures, said:
At Macmillan Ventures, we are working alongside people who are living with cancer today, to help shape the cancer care of tomorrow. Together, we want to break down barriers – to treatment, to care and in this case, the barrier that stands between a cancer and a treatment that could cure it. We are very proud to be supporting Neobe, and to be helping create the right environment for such promising new cancer care solutions to thrive.
In the announcement, Dr Julie Wolf, Partner at 2048 Ventures, said:
2048 Ventures is proud to have supported Neobe since their pre-seed. The mission of Neobe and its founders has always resonated with us, which is to make life-saving drugs available and effective for all patients, regardless of the tumour microenvironment. We're thrilled to continue working with Neobe and the current syndicate toward making that vision a reality.
If you're researching potential backers in this space:
- Explore our list of biotech venture capital firms in the UK
- Browse our directory of biotech angel investors in the UK
Founder perspective
In the announcement, Pedro Correa de Sampaio, co-founder and CEO, Neobe Therapeutics, said:
I’m delighted to be working with investors that share our vision of making untreatable cancers curable, and excited to move our platform towards clinical trials.
The CEO frames the financing as a step toward translating the platform into combination regimens with existing therapies, rather than replacing them — a strategy that, if it succeeds, could extend the efficacy of approved drugs.
The bigger picture
Neobe’s work sits within a growing area of therapeutic research that treats the tumour microenvironment as a targetable obstacle. Using engineered microbes to modulate that environment is technical and regulatory work that requires demonstrating selective tumour targeting and clinical safety. The involvement of Macmillan Ventures signals patient-centred interest alongside traditional venture capital, while ARC Ventures and specialist biotech investors backing the round reflect ongoing appetite for platform approaches that can broaden the impact of current oncology drugs.
This financing round is another data point in the UK’s maturing biotech scene, where a mix of philanthropic, specialist and venture capital is increasingly willing to fund translational projects aiming for clinic-ready assets. If Neobe’s preclinical results translate to humans, the company will join a small but growing cohort of UK startups pursuing engineered biological therapies that pair with — rather than replace — established cancer treatments.
They've invested in Neobe
Get to know these biotech investors
| Investors | Investment Focus | Startup Investments | Round Size | Connect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Macmillan Ventures( ) | ||||
 Empirical Ventures( ) Empirical is a specialist VC and venture builder based in Europe, focusing on ea... Bristol  | ||||
| All investors | All investor sectors | All funded startups | All funding rounds |
Click here for a full list of 7,589+ startup investors in the UK