Marama Labs Co-Founders (left to right): Prof. Eric Le Ru (Science Adviser), Dr Brendan Darby (Chief Executive Officer), and Dr Matthias Meyer (CTO).

 Wellington-based deep tech startup Marama Labs has secured $1.25m in new funding in a round co-led by US-based venture capital firm Quidnet Ventures and New Zealand Growth Capital Partners (NZGCP), with support from several New Zealand investors.

Marama Labs’ chemical analysis tools give industrial customers, such as wineries, unique chemical insights on their products, and when combined with its cloud-based data-analytics platform, Marama Labs helps customers control and optimise their production processes, save money, and build products and brands that truly connect with consumer demand.

The funds will be used to expand the team, grow its customer base, and further develop the Marama Labs proprietary hardware and software platform.

The investment will allow Marama Labs to continue to expand its reach to international customers and markets in the US and Europe.

With a customer list already including several leading New Zealand and Australian wineries, and international distribution partnerships in place in Australia and in-discussion in Europe, Marama Labs CEO and Co-Founder Dr Brendan Darby says customer feedback shows users are already seeing significant value from the product and understanding what it can do to help them transform their businesses.

“The science behind our sensors is pretty groundbreaking, and customers are telling us they’re unlocking new value since adopting the platform. It’s allowing them to respond proactively to the changes in the global wine landscape in ways they just couldn’t before,” says Dr Darby.

“Winemakers spend millions of dollars each year producing some great products, and they’re truly skilled at what they do. Yet before Marama Labs, there had been no simple way to understand, manage, and control several of the most critical chemical components that underpin the best wines.

“Wine is such a complex product. We’re using light to track colour and flavour characteristics from essentially the grape to the bottle. This gives winemakers the best science right when they need it – in the loop between wine producer and wine consumer,” says Dr Darby.