Illumina, a Nasdaq-listed DNA sequencing company, has selected nine genomics companies to join its accelerators in the US and UK.
Illumina has also gathered £20m ($25m) in pound-for-pound match funding to every graduate from its UK-based accelerator that secures between £500,000 and up to £4m in qualified new capital within one year of graduation. LifeArc, an independent medical research charity in the UK, has committed half the £20m.
Illumina’s accelerators provide the selected startups with access to seed investment, access to Illumina sequencing systems and reagents, as well as business guidance, genomics expertise, and fully operational lab space adjacent to Illumina’s campuses in Cambridge, UK, or the San Francisco Bay Area.
Four companies have joined the second funding cycle of Illumina Accelerator Cambridge in the UK and five companies for the 12th cohort in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Illumina Accelerator Cambridge
- BiotaX Labs, a spinoff from Technion Research and Development Foundation (TRDF) Israel, is harnessing the power of the microbiome to diagnose and provide effective, tailored and safe microbial treatments.
- Broken String Biosciences, a genomics company from Cardiff, UK, is developing a platform of novel sequencing tools to assess genome stability and to unlock the next generation of innovative medicines, including cell and gene therapies.
- Mitra Bio, a skin longevity company from London, UK, is building a non-invasive skin multi-omics platform to unravel skin health and delay ageing.
- MultiplAI Health, a diagnostics company from London, UK and Buenos Aires, Argentina, is leveraging advances in genomics and artificial intelligence to develop universal remote screening for cardiovascular diseases.
Illumina Accelerator SF Bay Area
- Doloromics, a pain therapeutics discovery company from Dallas, Texas, is building a proprietary platform for discovery of disease-specific pain mechanisms, biomarkers and therapeutics.
- Flightpath Biosciences, a biotechnology company from Berkeley, California is advancing microbiome-targeted therapeutics and diagnostics for the treatment of rare infectious diseases.
- Oshun Medical, a women’s health diagnostics company from the SF Bay Area, is working to predict pregnancy complications in women around the world.
- Parallel Health, a skin microbiome company from the SF Bay Area, aims to revolutionize skin and body care by providing deep insights and true personalization through best-in-class testing and targeted microbial formulations.
- Rubik Therapeutics, a cancer therapeutics company from Greater Boston, is leveraging computational biology and genome-wide screens to develop engineered cell therapies for solid tumor indications.
Illumina Accelerator is accepting applications for the next global funding cycle, which are due by 1 March, through its website.
