London-based Automata, a SLAS exhibitor, has closed a $45 million Series C round led by Dimension, with participation from Danaher Ventures and a strategic investment partnership with Danaher Corporation. The funding will accelerate deployment of the company’s LINQ lab automation platform, which combines modular robotics with orchestration software designed to make wet labs programmable and AI-ready.
As part of the deal, Murali Venkatesan, Global Head of Danaher Ventures and VP of Science, Technology and Innovation, joins Automata’s board. The Danaher partnership will see technologies from Danaher companies, including Molecular Devices and Beckman Coulter Life Sciences, integrate Automata’s software—expanding LINQ’s ecosystem for liquid handling, genomic and cell analysis workflows.
Automata says it now counts five top-pharma companies among its customers, with repeat deployments driving growth. In a press release, CEO Mostafa Elsayed positions LINQ as an “operating layer between AI models and the physical lab,” enabling scientists to program experiments rather than individual robotic steps. The company plans to use the capital to scale customer deployments globally, build next-generation closed-loop experimentation software, and expand its engineering, product, and customer success teams.
| Automata — LINQ Platform | |
|---|---|
| Funding | $45M Series C (led by Dimension; participation from Danaher Ventures and others) |
| CEO | Mostafa Elsayed |
| Strategic partner | Danaher (Molecular Devices, Beckman Coulter Life Sciences) |
| Approach | Modular robotics + orchestration software |
| Customers | Claims 5 top-pharma, repeat deployments |
| HQ | London, UK |
The funding comes as several companies compete for the lab orchestration layer: the software that coordinates instruments, schedules workflows and feeds data to AI models. Automata’s Danaher tie-up gives it a distribution and integration advantage, though it also narrows the platform toward Danaher’s instrument portfolio. Beckman Coulter Life Sciences issued a separate announcement confirming a strategic partnership that integrates its liquid handling, genomic and cell analysis technologies with Automata’s LINQ automation ecosystem.
The round also included participation from Tru Arrow Partners, Octopus Ventures, and Entrepreneurs First.
Announced January 29, 2026; showcased at SLAS 2026 in Boston, February 7–11, 2026.
