Roscoff-based SeaBeLife, a BioTech company developing innovative drug candidates intended to block cellular necrosis, today announces a pre-Series A funding round worth €2 million.
The financing was led by historical investor iXLife, alongside other longstanding shareholders Breizh Angels, WeLikeStartup, Angels Santé and the Business Angels des Grandes Ecoles. This round welcomes new investors, including INEXT and Femmes Business Angels, the first women-only business angels’ network in Europe.
“The renewed backing from our longstanding investors, together with the addition of new partners, is a clear signal of confidence in our vision and development strategy, and I am extremely grateful for their support,” said Morgane Rousselot, PhD, CEO and Co-founder of SeaBeLife. “This fundraising is a decisive step towards clinical trials and reinforces our ambition to create a new generation of cutting-edge treatments capable of blocking two major pathways for programmed cell death. We are now actively preparing for a Series A funding round to sustain this momentum.”
Founded in 2019, SeaBeLife focuses on developing novel small molecules that simultaneously target two major regulated cell death pathways, necroptosis and ferroptosis, to meet key medical needs in acute, rare or chronic indications where there is no therapeutic alternative.
This first-in-class approach is reportedly unique, as there is currently no dual inhibitor targeting these pathways available on the market. At the start of 2025, the company delivered promising preclinical efficacy results for its SBL03 drug candidate in geographic atrophy, a severe form of dry AMD.
The company is focusing its efforts on two flagship programmes: SBL03 for dry AMD, and SBL01 for severe acute hepatitis, two high medical need indications for which the potential market is worth several billion euros.
“We have backed SeaBeLife for several years and the latest in vivo data validates the value and potential of the company’s dual-targeted approach. By simultaneously blocking two forms of regulated cell death, SeaBeLife uniquely shields organs from damage, highlighting its transformative potential to provide patients with rare or chronic diseases with a new therapeutic option,” said Jean-Pierre Kinet, chairman of iXLife.
This funding marks a key milestone for SeaBeLife by supporting the development of two of the company’s drug candidates – one aimed at dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and the other for severe acute hepatitis. The first clinical trial is set to start in 2026.
Further to this financing round, Marie-Pierre Sbardella, general secretary of Femmes Business Angels, joins the SeaBeLife Strategic Committee.
“We at INEXT are impressed by SeaBeLife’s disruptive technology, which concurrently blocks two regulated cell death pathways, protecting the organs from serious diseases. Its first-in-class approach, which is supported by promising preclinical results, positions SeaBeLife as a key player in the future of biotech. We are proud to have contributed to this fundraising and to support the company’s growth,” said Eric Valat, chairman of INEXT.
Since inception, SeaBeLife has raised €9 million in capital and public financing. It is led by CEO and Co-founder Morgane Rousselot, who holds a PhD in biochemistry from Sorbonne University/French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS)/Roscoff Marine Station.
The company is based on the research work of Stéphane Bach, PhD (CNRS), Marie-Thérèse Dimanche-Boitrel (Research Institute for Environmental and Occupational Health — IRSET) and Claire Delehouzé, PhD, scientific director and partner.
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2025/10/french-biotech-developer-seabelife-raises-e2-million-to-tackle-dry-amd-and-severe-acute-hepatitis/
