CAMBRIDGE, MA, Firefly BioWorks Inc., a Cambridge biotech startup, has taken in $1.99 million in a new funding round that saw participation by 18 unnamed backers, according to SEC filings.

Firefly BioWorks is an early stage company developing instruments and molecular diagnostic assays for rapid detection of clinically relevant biomarkers. The firm's mission is to unlock the full diagnostic and preventive potential of the information already present in clinical samples, by leveraging on the advantages of its technology platform. Firefly will initially focus on assays for detection of microRNAs, a class of molecules believed to have great potential as biomarkers in a wide range of conditions.

Firefly's technology was born in the laboratory of Prof. Patrick Doyle at MIT and utilizes barcoded gel microparticles that are rapidly custom-synthesized using a ground-breaking combination of microfluidics and photolithography. With this method, particles are "printed" on streams of photopolymerizable compounds, allowing graphical encoding and incorporation of biofunctional probes to occur in one step. This process combines the non-mixing and continuous nature of microfluidics with the precise sculpting of photolithography, transforming the synthesis of morphologically- and chemically-complex particles into a simple, rapid process.