GV, a corporate venturing subsidiary of internet and technology group Alphabet, led a $100m funding round for US-based clinical data platform developer Verana Health yesterday.
Bain Capital Ventures, Casdin Capital and Define Ventures also took part in the round, as did unnamed existing shareholders.
Spun out of Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 2013, Verana has built a software platform that aggregates information from several clinical databases, such as the one maintained by the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and analyses the anonymised data to help advance research and patient care.
The company currently focuses on eye and neurological diseases but plans to expand into additional areas over the next year, integrating imaging, genomic and claims datasets. The funding was announced alongside its acquisition of large-scale data architecture developer PYA Analytics’s staff and technology assets for an undisclosed amount.
Verana also intends to grow headcount at its San Francisco headquarters and New York office, as well as hiring additional staff to join the PYA Analytics team which will remain at its Knoxville office.
Krishna Yeshwant, general partner at GV, said: “Verana Health is building the team and technology to unlock deep clinical insights that support the development of new treatments while increasing our understanding of how these treatments can benefit patients more broadly.
“Under the leadership of its strong management team, Verana continues to redefine how we approach medical research.”
GV previously led the company’s $30m series C round in 2018, investing together with GE Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle for industrial and power technology group General Electric, as well as Lagunita Biosciences, Biomatics Capital and private investor Brook Byers.
GE Ventures had already taken part in a $7.8m series B round for Verana in 2015 together with Lagunita Biosciences, Biosys Capital and Waycross Ventures. The company, originally known as DigiSight, has not disclosed details of previous financing.
