31 March 2017 - - US-based hybrid microscope developer Echo has closed a USD 7.5m in series A funding, the company said.

The capital investment, co-led by Dolby Family Ventures and Tech Coast Angels(TCA), will support Echo in scaling manufacturing, strengthening the company's sales infrastructure, and developing future technologies.

Echo, formerly Echo Laboratories, created the hybrid microscope, Revolve, which combines the functionality of both upright and inverted microscopes to reduce costs, while freeing up laboratory space.

Revolve also leverages tablet and cloud-based technologies to capture and manage image data while delivering a modern, seamless approach to data management and hardware integration.

The global microscopy market is expected to reach over USD 6bn by 2021 (MarketsandMarkets Research), yet new technology has been slow to evolve.

The Revolve's capitalisation of this opportunity through its usability and versatility has been early adopted in top institutions such as Stanford University; University of California, San Francisco; Harvard University; Yale University; 23andME; Pfizer; and the National Institutes of Health.

Echo said its future products will include a higher end model with automation, designed for those in biotech and pharma, as well as an entry-level model for students, educators and those focused on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

The company previously raised USD 5m from angel investors, including TCA. Echo won TCA San Diego's Quick Pitch contest in 2016, beating 146 competitors for the USD 15,000 first-place prize. Echo was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in San Diego.

Echo, formerly Echo Laboratories, was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in San Diego.