US-based genomics services provider Wuxi NextCode closed its series B round, already backed by pharmaceutical firm Amgen, at $240m yesterday following a $165m extension led by Sequoia China.
The extension also included Singapore state-owned investment firm Temasek, Yunfeng Capital and 3W Partners. Temasek and Yunfeng co-led the initial $75m tranche in May 2017 with participation from Amgen’s corporate venturing division Amgen Ventures.
Wuxi NextCode operates a contract genomics platform that offers features such as sequencing, secondary analysis, storage, interpretation and scalable analytics.
Founded as NextCode Health in 2013, Wuxi NextCode rebranded two years later when China-headquartered open-access pharmaceutical platform provider Wuxi AppTec purchased a majority stake.
The funding will go towards an accelerated expansion of the company’s platform infrastructure. Wuxi NextCode also aims to attract more users and data through precision medicine and diagnostics partnerships.
Additionally, the company hopes to bring its consumer products to market in China.
In 2013, Polaris Partners and Arch Venture Partners injected $15m in series A capital.
Hannes Smarason, chief executive of Wuxi NextCode, said: “The success of this financing round, which includes some of the top technology and healthcare investors worldwide, underscores the breadth and depth of confidence in our vision: to serve as the global platform for using genome data to advance global health.
“We have the unique expertise and now the resources to execute on this strategy. We plan to continue to push the leading edge of technology for digitizing, managing and analysing genomic big data, including through our pathbreaking artificial intelligence, and to put it at the service of ever more enterprises, institutions, and individuals around the world.”