US-based nanopore sequencing technology developer Quantapore has secured just over $15.5m in a series 3 round featuring Baidu Ventures, a corporate venturing subsidiary of internet group Baidu.
Venture capital firm Northern Light Venture Capital led the round, which included Tsingyuan Ventures, Sangel Venture Capital and Cloudstone VC. It was disclosed as the company formally emerged from stealth mode.
Quantapore is working on a nanopore sequencing platform that can quickly and accurately sequence DNA at what it claims will be a far lower cost than rival systems. The technology is based on an optical interaction between a single DNA molecule and a nanopore.
The company closed a $35m series B round in 2014 that was funded by unnamed investors, before raising an undisclosed amount in a September 2016 series C round led by China BioPharma Capital I, a VC fund advised by TVM Capital Life Science.