US-based supply chain data analytics developer Phylagen has raised $14m in a series A round featuring data storage technology producer Western Digital and manufacturing conglomerate 3M.
Venture capital firms Cultivian Sandbox, Breakout Ventures and Working Capital co-led the round, which also featured investment, data and media platform AgFunder, Dolby Family Ventures, Duck Investors, Blackhorn Ventures, J-Angels and Arden Road Investments.
Western Digital and 3M contributed to the round through their respective corporate venturing units, Western Digital Capital and 3M Ventures.
Founded in 2014, Phylagen has created a testing kit that helps businesses determine where their products were made, by testing the environmental microbiome, a unique collection of microorganisms found on each item.
The system utilises DNA sequencing and machine learning technology to help companies that manufacture their products overseas to ensure the goods were made ethically and not by facilities with poor working conditions that may use cheap labour.
Phylagen’s technology is based on research by co-founder and chief executive Jessica Green at the University of Oregon, where she was director of the university’s biology and built environment centre.