Participated · Equity · Jun 2024

RareCyte is a Seattle-based precision biology company that designs, manufactures, and markets end-to-end integrated platforms including instruments, reagents, software, and services. Its core product is the Orion spatial biology platform, adopted worldwide to address translational market requirements from discovery to clinical trial support. Orion enables rapid sub-cellular scanning and analysis of tissue and blood samples for up to 20 biomarkers with turn-around times that support large cohort studies. The platform includes a broad array of validated biomarkers for immediate use across immuno-oncology, immunology, neurology, infectious disease, and other areas. RareCyte plans to use the $20M financing to expand the Orion platform by commercializing new multiplex assays, reagent products, and software applications. The funding will also support expansion of its Precision Biology Services, including spatial biology and liquid biopsy assays performed in its Seattle labs under CLIA and ISO 13485 certifications. Led by Joe Victor, President and CEO, RareCyte targets discovery, translational, and future clinical markets with integrated solutions. RareCyte is a life sciences company offering Precision Biology™ solutions focused on multiplexed analysis of cells and tissue for research and clinical diagnostics. The company develops and manufactures platforms, instruments and consumables, including its new Orion spatial biology platform. Leadership is led by President and CEO Joe Victor, and company founder Ron Seubert remains involved. RareCyte says its systems are used in labs worldwide and it has deep experience in advanced precision life science systems. The company raised financing to accelerate commercialization and applications for the Orion platform and to support further global expansion of its portfolio. The reported financing totaled $24M and included both new and existing investors. RareCyte offers an instrument-and-consumables platform for high-resolution multiplex analysis of rare cells in blood and tissue, including AccuCyte Sample Preparation, RarePlex Staining Kits, CyteFinder Instruments, and the CytePicker Retrieval Module. The platform leverages microscope slides to fit into clinical laboratory workflows and supports high-throughput processing and up to seven immunofluorescent biomarker channels for deeper phenotypic analysis. Its integrated retrieval capability enables single-cell phenotype and genotype dataset generation for translational and clinical research. Customers include academic medical institutions and biopharma companies using the system to study complex diseases such as cancer and to support precision-medicine programs. Led by President and CEO Joe Victor and based in Seattle, the company serves preclinical through clinical research markets. RareCyte is a Seattle, WA-based company that develops an integrated rare cell detection and liquid biopsy platform. Its core product lines—AccuCyte and CyteFinder—use standard microscope slides to fit into clinical lab workflows and enable high-throughput processing of blood samples for pre-clinical research and clinical applications. CyteFinder can analyze up to six biomarker channels using immunofluorescent staining for deeper rare cell phenotype analysis, and the CytePicker retrieves single cells to build unique phenotype and genotype datasets at the single-cell level. The platform has been adopted by academic medical institutions and biopharma companies. The company will use the financing to advance commercial sales, build companion diagnostics (CDx) programs with strategic partners, and expand its regulatory infrastructure and research and development efforts. In conjunction with the financing, leadership changes include Joe Victor joining as President and CEO while current CEO Ron Seubert transitions to CTO. RareCyte, founded in 2009 and headquartered in Seattle, develops the AccuCyte System, a rare cell characterization and retrieval platform built on proprietary whole blood enrichment technology. The AccuCyte platform targets circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and circulating endothelial cells (CECs) using an unbiased approach intended to deliver high recovery and purity for downstream analyses. The system is presented as an open platform for life sciences research, drug development, and diagnostic markets, with applications in oncology and cardiovascular disease. AccuCyte is undergoing final testing at RareCyte’s Seattle headquarters through clinical research partnerships. RareCyte plans to use the recently closed tranche of funding to complete final product development and initiate a commercial launch into the research oncology market. Company leadership emphasizes the platform’s role in identification, characterization, enumeration, and retrieval of rare blood cells to aid understanding, diagnosis, and treatment.

Participated · Series B · May 2024

Elegen develops cell-free, microfluidics-based DNA synthesis and production technologies and markets the ENFINIA DNA product line for research and clinical workflows. The platform emphasizes longer, more complex, and faster DNA synthesis compared with traditional cell-based cloning, aiming to reduce synthesis failures, contamination, and hands-on time. Elegen commercialized ENFINIA DNA in Q1 2023, introduced higher-scale synthesis options in early Q4 2023, and in March launched a service for rapid synthesis of highly complex sequences. The company is focused on providing turnkey production of GMP-compliant DNA to support discovery and clinical development of genetic medicines. Recent plans supported by the financing include development of IVT-ready DNA, plasmid DNA and clinical-grade DNA production across clinical manufacturing workflows. Elegen also has a strategic collaboration with GSK to apply its cell-free DNA manufacturing technology to vaccines and medicines.

Participated · Equity · Apr 2024

Biofidelity is a commercial-stage genomic technology company based in Cambridge, UK and Morrisville, NC. The company develops diagnostic tests, including ASPYRE®-Lung, which simplifies and accelerates detection of biomarkers for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). ASPYRE®-Lung is designed to deliver results in days instead of weeks and at a fraction of the cost of current sequencing tests. The company plans to use recent funding to accelerate commercial and clinical expansion in the United States to speed adoption of ASPYRE®-Lung. Additional uses of proceeds include establishing a dedicated manufacturing facility in the United Kingdom and driving pipeline expansion across Biofidelity's technology platforms. Biofidelity is led by CEO Dr. Barnaby Balmforth and is positioned as a commercial-stage player in the precision oncology diagnostics market. The company raised $24M in its most recent funding round. Biofidelity develops ASPYRE, a novel molecular diagnostic technology designed to simplify and accelerate detection of genomic biomarkers and run on existing PCR machines. The platform aims to increase access to early detection, precision diagnosis and routine monitoring, helping physicians identify patients who may benefit from targeted cancer therapies. The company’s initial commercial focus is ASPYRE‑Lung for non‑small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), with plans to expand application across the broader $15 billion cancer testing market. Biofidelity positions ASPYRE as a route to make comprehensive genomic biomarker analysis accessible to many more patients worldwide by leveraging common laboratory equipment. The company is led by CEO Dr. Barnaby Balmforth. It recently strengthened its financial position through new funding to support development and commercial launch activities. Biofidelity develops a disruptive cancer diagnostic platform that delivers ultra-sensitive detection of guideline-recommended genetic markers while simplifying workflows and using standard laboratory instrumentation. The company reports its assays match the sensitivity of specialized NGS with error correction and demonstrated a 50× improvement over current FDA-approved PCR diagnostics while reducing workflows from more than 100 steps to four. Biofidelity says its approach can expand access to precision genetic testing—estimating 95% of cancer patients are currently excluded from NGS due to cost, complexity, and slow turnaround. It is initially focusing on non-small cell lung cancer and colorectal cancer, with potential applications across a broad range of cancers and for detecting resistance to therapy and disease recurrence. Founded in 2019 and based in Cambridge, UK, the company completed a $12m Series A in August 2020 to accelerate development and clinical validation and to commercialize its oncology panels. Plans for go-to-market include direct sales, partnering and collaborations to rapidly deploy assays.

Participated · Equity · Feb 2024

Tagomics develops a multiomic platform that integrates genomics, epigenomics and fragmentomics to discover disease markers and improve diagnosis. The platform applies advanced data analysis and machine learning to detect mutations, study epigenetic switches and analyze DNA fragmentation patterns in blood. Tagomics aims to support drug development and therapy selection by enabling strategic partnerships and marker discovery. The company plans to use the new funding to accelerate scientific research and product development, with the goal of delivering simpler and more accurate diagnostics and treatments for cancer and other diseases. Tagomics was launched in July 2020 as a spin-out from the University of Birmingham and is led by CEO Dr. Jack Kennefick. It is based in Cambridge, UK.

Led · Series C · Jul 2022

Halo Labs is a Burlingame, CA-based life science instrumentation and consumable company led by CEO Rick Gordon. It commercializes the Aura platform for high-throughput aggregate, visible and subvisible particle analysis used in biopharmaceutical formulation, stability testing, and product quality control. The technology uses custom optics and image-processing techniques to perform optical imaging on membranes, providing researchers insights into aggregates and subvisible particles present in drug products. The company closed a $6M Series C growth financing led by Agilent Technologies, with participation from Research Corporation Technologies, Broad Oak Capital Partners, and BioAdvance. Halo Labs intends to use the proceeds to continue commercialization of the Aura platform, increase manufacturing capacity, and develop new products to meet current and emerging needs of pharmaceutical researchers. Halo Labs, led by CEO Robert Wicke and based in Burlingame, Calif., develops scientific instrumentation and consumables for biologics researchers. It commercializes high-throughput biopharmaceutical formulation and quality-control tools for subvisible particle (SVP) analysis using custom optics and image-processing techniques. Its Horizon® instrument performs high-throughput SVP analysis with volumes as low as 25 µL and uses a 96-well membrane plate to test several parameters quickly without dilution or sample preparation. The company closed a $12M Series B1 financing to support growth. Halo intends to use the funds to expand its worldwide sales presence, continue development of its next-generation product portfolio, and acquire complementary technologies and companies to expand into the analytical particle space. Halo Labs develops the Horizon® instrument, which enables high-throughput, low-volume subvisible particle analysis for biologics researchers using sample volumes as low as 25 µL. The company focuses on tools for biologics researchers and is commercializing instruments that perform subvisible particle analysis at scale. Halo intends to use recent funding to commercialize Horizon and to continue development of its broader product pipeline. Leadership includes CEO Robert Wicke; the company also named Dr. Joseph Keegan Executive Chairman of the Board. Financially, Halo completed a $5.6M Series B financing to support commercialization and product development efforts. The company is based in San Francisco, CA.