The funding round was supported by the Scottish Investment Bank, the investment arm of Scottish Enterprise, Alba Equity, Apollo and Investing Women.

Founded in 2017, Cumulus creates spin-out companies developing anti-cancer therapies and fast-tracking treatments into clinical trials for cancer types that don’t respond well to existing procedures.

The Eos-led round, which marks one of the investment firm’s largest deals to date, enables Cumulus to continue to scale its business model at pace and take advantage of what the company describes as “significant market opportunities in Europe”.

Andrew McNeill, managing partner, Eos Advisory, said: “With a track record in scaling and exiting biopharmaceutical ventures, Clare is a founder who combines significant market understanding with a clear vision of what she wants Cumulus and its portfolio companies to achieve. Clare has assembled a world-class team and we are enthused by their keen focus, deep sector expertise and drive to consolidate Cumulus’s position as Europe’s first and most successful oncology drug discovery accelerator.”

Clare Wareing, Cumulus Oncology founder and CEO, added: “While the business model is well developed in the US, Cumulus is leading the way in Europe. Having spent three years carefully curating a high-calibre team and building a portfolio of oncology asset-centric spin-out companies, we are poised to scale the business.

“Venture capital and trade investors see the value of the European biotech sector, which has matured markedly over the last few years evidenced by a threefold increase in venture financing, the doubling of European VC funds and increased investment from the US. We have some exciting portfolio and partnership announcements in the pipeline and we look forward to our next phase of growth with the support of the Eos Advisory team.”

Kerry Sharp, director, Scottish Investment Bank, said: “Cumulus Oncology is a hugely exciting venture which highlights yet again Scotland’s exceptional global reputation for life sciences innovation. The team has excellent previous experience in creating high value enterprises and we look forward to working with them in this new venture.”

John Duncan, founding director, Alba Equity, commented: “We are very pleased to back Clare and her team in this exciting venture. Our investors were attracted by the depth of experience of this team and the opportunity to support them to make a significant impact by helping to bring new, carefully selected oncology assets to market.”