ArrayPatch Closes €3.2M Seed Round for Polymer-Free Microneedle Patches

Irish biotech ArrayPatch Ltd has closed an oversubscribed €3.2 million seed round, with the second tranche adding €1.6 million to fund its needle-free drug delivery platform. The company announced the close on November 5, 2026 from its base in Cork, Ireland.

WakeUp Capital, an impact-focused venture capital firm, co-led the latest investment. Spark Venture Funding and Dr. Mark Ledwidge also joined this tranche, alongside existing lead investor Lakeside Capital and DeepIE Ventures. Enterprise Ireland, The Boole Investment Syndicate and several private investors round out the cap table.

What makes the DerMap™ platform different?

ArrayPatch's DerMap™ dissolving microneedle patch is, according to the company, the only microneedle delivery technology in which the microneedles are made entirely from the medicine itself. No polymer is required, which allows significantly higher drug loading capacity. The platform can deliver both small molecules and peptides.

That matters for the company's lead program. GLP-DerMap™ aims to replace GLP-1 agonist injections — the drug class behind current obesity and diabetes therapies — with a pain-free patch. The program is in pre-clinical development, and the seed proceeds will push the pipeline toward first-in-human studies.

"The successful completion of our €3.2 million seed round is an important milestone for ArrayPatch and provides the resources to accelerate the development of our pipeline," said Dr. Waleed Faisal, Founder and CEO of ArrayPatch. "Our primary focus is now GLP-DerMap™, where we believe our technology has the potential to offer a new, patient-friendly approach to the delivery of GLP-1 medicines. We are also continuing to advance our programmes in skin cancer and nail fungal infection."

In plain terms: the money buys ArrayPatch a runway into human trials for a patch that could compete with injected weight-loss drugs.

Who is backing the round?

Andrew Parish, Partner at WakeUp Capital, will join ArrayPatch's Board of Directors. The board is chaired by Dr. Neil Thomas, who was recently appointed to the role.

"We are delighted to co-lead this round as ArrayPatch is advancing a novel technology designed to address numerous patient and environmental challenges associated with medicines administered by traditional injections, setting the company on track to make a significant global human and environmental impact," Parish said.

The investor mix signals where ArrayPitch sits: state-backed support through Enterprise Ireland, syndicate capital through The Boole Investment Syndicate, and impact money through WakeUp Capital — a blend typical of Irish early-stage life science spinouts.

What's in the pipeline?

Beyond GLP-DerMap™, the seed funding advances two additional programs:

• VIS-DerMap™ — a treatment for basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of skin cancer.
• ITZ-DerMap™ — a treatment for onychomycosis, better known as nail fungus.

All three programs sit on the same DerMap™ platform, which delivers therapeutic agents directly through the skin in a manner the company describes as painless and efficient.

ArrayPatch spun out of University College Cork and has secured significant non-dilutive funding and industry recognition to support its development strategy, according to the company.

The next milestone is clear: moving GLP-DerMap™ from pre-clinical work into first-in-human studies — the step that will test whether a polymer-free patch can genuinely challenge the injection-dominated GLP-1 market.