RockStep Solutions, an early-stage company in Portland developing laboratory-management software, recently raised $2 million in a priced equity financing round.
The company’s software product, called Climb, helps laboratories working in biomedical research and drug discovery manage their data and operations. Its customers include universities, private nonprofits, research labs, biotech companies, and major pharmaceutical companies, according to a news release.
Since releasing its software product last year, the Portland-based startup has quickly gained market traction, according to Chuck Donnelly, Rockstep’s CEO and co-founder.
Rockstep Solutions currently has 13 full-time employees, but Donnelly said he expects to more than double the size of the team in the next nine months.
“Our current team has a great skillset and company culture to build on. Now we need to continue to hire smart, so we can quickly move from startup to scaleup,” Donnelly said. “In the next 18 months we will be focused on building the company, scaling our commercial team, and refining our product.”
Donnelly launched the company in 2015 after receiving an SBIR award from the National Institutes of Health and a Development Loan from the Maine Technology Institute. His co-founder Julie Morrison joined shortly after in 2016.
Prior to launching RockStep Solutions, Donnelly was director of computational sciences at The Jackson Laboratory. Morrison, who now serves as president, developed assays for detecting microorganisms at IDEXX and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
RockStep’s investors have significant backgrounds in the life sciences industry and are expected to help the company grow quickly, Morrison said.
“These are our ideal investors,” Morrison said. “They are industry leaders who understand our product, our market, and how to help grow a company like RockStep.”
