Berlin-based Apheris, a pioneer in federated computing for the life sciences sector, has successfully raised $20.8M (€20.24M) in its Series A funding round. The round was led by OTB Ventures and eCAPITAL, with additional backing from existing investors Octopus Ventures and Heal Capital.
Founded in 2019 by Robin Röhm and Michael Höh, Apheris specializes in secure and governed data collaboration. The company works with leading pharmaceutical giants such as Roche and Johnson & Johnson, as well as major hospitals, to address the challenges of data governance and intellectual property protection in collaborative networks. Apheris’ Compute Gateway technology allows organizations to securely train AI models without transferring sensitive data, enabling privacy-compliant and efficient collaboration.
The company’s technology supports initiatives like the AI Structural Biology Consortium, which includes pharmaceutical leaders AbbVie, Boehringer Ingelheim, Johnson & Johnson, and Sanofi. The consortium uses Apheris’ federated learning platform to advance AI-driven drug discovery while ensuring data privacy.
The new funding will accelerate Apheris’ efforts to expand its federated computing solutions and build the largest and most secure life sciences data network by 2025. CEO Robin Röhm expressed enthusiasm for the partnership with OTB Ventures and eCAPITAL, highlighting their expertise in cybersecurity and AI technologies as key to scaling Apheris’ impact.
OTB Ventures and eCAPITAL bring deep expertise in fostering transformative technologies. OTB Ventures manages over €350M, focusing on AI, spacetech, and cybersecurity, while eCAPITAL, a German venture capital firm, manages €400M, investing in technologies that drive societal impact across sustainability, enterprise software, and IoT.
Featured image: Apheris co-founders Robin Röhm and Michael Höh (PhD). Credit: Apheris
