US-based diagnostic testing technology developer Cue Health completed a $235m financing round backed by chemical and energy conglomerate Koch Industries and pharmaceutical firm Johnson & Johnson yesterday.
Johnson & Johnson and Koch took part in the round through subsidiaries Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC and Koch Strategic Platforms respectively, joining Perceptive Advisors, MSD Capital, Decheng Capital, Cavu Ventures, Acme Capital and undisclosed other investors.
Founded in 2010, Cue Health has developed a portable, rapid diagnostic testing device for diseases such as covid-19 and influenza that connects to a dedicated mobile app and which can deliver test results in about 20 minutes. The Information reported in December 2020 it was raising funding at a $2bn valuation.
Cue Health will use the funding to accelerate its growth as it looks to develop products in other healthcare fields including respiratory, sexual, cardiac and metabolic health. It had received a $481m grant from the United States government in October 2020 to scale up production of its covid-19 test.
Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC also took part in a $100m series C round for the company in June 2020 that included Decheng Capital, Foresite Capital, Madrone Capital Partners, Acme Capital and unnamed investment firms.
Dentsu Ventures, a subsidiary of marketing firm Dentsu, joined Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC in Cue Health’s $45m series B round in 2018 along with Section 32, Synergy Ventures, Principles of Tarsadia Investments, Pritzker Group Venture Capital, Babel Ventures, Troy Capital, Acme Capital (then known as Sherpa Capital), Cove Investments and Rohan Oza.
The company had raised $15.5m from investors including Cavu Venture Partners and Sherpa Capital in 2017, after Dentsu Ventures had supplied an undisclosed amount of funding in 2015. Sherpa Capital had led its $7.5m series A round in 2014 with participation from Immortalana, following over $1m of earlier funding.