With an ambition to pioneer genomic technologies in India and providing a huge variety of genomics research services globally, MedGenome has today announced a $20 million Series B investment led by Sequoia Capital.
Previously, a series A funding round of the company was led by Emerge Ventures. Post the series B investment, Abhay Pandey (Sequoia Capital) will join the Board of Directors joining Sam Santhosh, Mahesh Pratapneni (Emerge Ventures) and Dhiraj Rajaram (Mu Sigma).
The capital raised through this round will be used by the company in accelerating the expansion of its portfolio of genetic tests, enhancement of sequencing facilities in India and the US, and expanding its collaborative network with speciality hospitals/clinics and genomic research institutions in India.
Genome-based research, which is still a nascent field in India, probably has the most significant say in curing India’s widespread health problems. India suffers the largest burden of inherited diseases with about 5-6% of the children born affected. Further, the adoption of Western lifestyles has largely increased the occurrence of diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
Sam Santhosh, CEO, MedGenome says,
Our genomic sequencing capabilities and powerful interpretation provide actionable insights to clinicians allowing them to adopt precision medicine in their practice while our research solutions have enabled us to develop deep insights into diseases at the genetic and molecular level.
The company is among very few startups in India, which are working in the genetics sector and aims to spread awareness as well as bring out more innovations in the sector it specializes in.
The company houses a state-of-the art Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) lab in Bangalore and offers genomics-based end-to-end diagnostics solutions in India. Many services and research projects have also been carried out at an international level by the firm.
The influx of next generation sequencing and high-throughput data is changing the landscape of computational biology. This has resulted in the need for more robust infrastructure, tools, and techniques for genomic analysis. MedGenome has firmly established itself as a global market leader in genomics-based diagnostics and research from India.
said Abhay Pandey, Managing Director of Sequoia Capital, who will be joining the BoD of MedGenome shortly.
