US-based bio-data storage technology developer Catalog Technologies has raised $9m in a round backed by instant messaging app developer Line, BioSpace has reported.
Venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates led the round, which included Data Collective, Green Bay Ventures, AME Cloud Ventures, Industry Ventures and undisclosed additional investors.
Founded in 2016, Catalog is developing a data storage system that will encode information within DNA molecules to facilitate the collation of vast quantities of data, even entire data centres, within a handheld chip.
The company’s system works by customising host molecules for the data from a handful of archetype DNA strands.
Catalog had raised $5m in seed funding as of February 2017, according to Irish Tech News, including $250,000 from accelerator IndieBio. Its earlier investors also include Pathbreaker Ventures.