A new $6 million funding round led by Triventures could help the company in its efforts to democratize next-generation sequencing technology.
Four-year-old genomics startup Genoox announced a new venture round today that yielded $6 million. That number matches the amount it pulled in during last summer’s Series A round.
The company is entering an industry that’s crowding quickly, both with companies and venture dollars. Certainly, the new investment pales in comparison to some of the cash that has been thrown around lately, but the company wants to diversify itself from the pack by reducing complexity and cost—both of which threaten to complicate physicians’ jobs as the direct-to-consumer testing market booms.
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Its calling card is a proprietary, cloud-based platform that automates genomic data interpretation and features a “search engine” tool that generates insights and recommendations. Genoox hopes to use its tech suite to make the healthcare benefits of next-generation sequencing (NGS) more accessible to new providers, like community medical centers. By giving physicians a better understanding of the underlying causes behind a patient’s disease, the hope is that they will be able to provide more holistic care.
“The platform makes it simple and cost-effective to identify the genetic root causes of disease and medical issues, and has even identified new genetic variants that have enabled parents to save their children’s lives,” Peter Fitzgerald, MD, PhD, said of the company. A Stanford University faculty member, Fitzgerald also cofounded and manages Triventures, which led the new investment round. “Genoox’s unparalleled platform positions it to become an industry leader for personalized medicine solutions.” He will join Genoox’s board of directors.
Genoox co-founder and CEO Amir Trabelsi returned the praise, saying that Fitzgerald will “add tremendous value to our product and business,” and help the company to continue providing genetic insights and treatment recommendations to patients with an eye on lower costs. He said that the addition of Fitzgerald and the new investment will aid in his company’s growth in the United States.
The company has locations in Palo Alto, California, and New York, New York. It also has a presence in Israel, where it was recently selected by the government to analyze genetic samples from 100,000 patients as part of a public health initiative.
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