San Diego-based startup, Element Biosciences recently secured a massive $277 million in investments. This impressive funding haul brings the company’s total funding to an enormous $680 million and increases its overall valuation to approximately $1.03 billion.
The funding round saw key investment firms such as Wellington Management, Venrock, T. Rowe Price, Fidelity, and Samsung Electronics taking part. Element Biosciences will utilise this financial boost to fast-track the development and commercialization of its groundbreaking genomic sequencing platform. This could very well change the standard in terms of speed, accuracy, and cost-effectiveness for the market.
Founder and CEO, Molly He, views this latest round of funding as an opportunity to speed up the introduction of the Aviti DNA sequencing system into the market. The Aviti system also holds potential for multi-omics analysis, going beyond DNA and examining proteins and RNA.
Securing funds for genomic sequencing advancement
This could be a monumental leap forward for fields like genomics and proteomics.
To date, the biotech startup has nearly 200 of its sequencers placed across hospitals, research labs, and pharmaceutical companies. Last year the company made $25 million in revenue and aims to double this figure through the sale of its machines and biological analysis kits.
Even though Element Biosciences faces fierce competition from industry giants Illumina, Pacific Biosciences, and Germany’s Qiagen, it continues to push boundaries with innovative technology. At its core, the company uses a unique chemical process called “avidity sequencing”, a method shown through research to improve precision, simplicity, and cost, establishing itself as a serious market player.
Josh Sommerfeld, head of healthcare at Wellington Management, commended Element Biosciences’ strategic positioning in the market. He likened their move towards multi-omics to upgrading from a toaster to a toaster oven, adding that it drastically alters the dynamics of how diagnostic tools are used.
Element Biosciences was founded in 2017 by Molly He, a molecular biologist with a mission to cater to the specific needs of smaller research labs. While larger institutions generally dominated the scene, He saw a niche in providing more targeted tools and technologies to lesser-equipped laboratories. She believes her company can bridge the gap and reach smaller, more specialized research efforts.
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