US-based genome engineering technology developer Synthego raised $41m in series B funding yesterday from investors including life science real estate developer Alexandria Real Estate Equities.
Venture capital firm 8VC led the round, which included AME Cloud Ventures, Elements Capital, OS Fund, ZhenFund, Founders Fund, Menlo Ventures, WI Harper Group, SciFi VC and angel investors Jennifer Doudna and Jamie H Doudna Cate.
Synthego is developing synthetic RNA molecules that can be used for Crispr genome editing and research. It plans to use the new capital to fund commercial growth, the development of new products and an overseas expansion.
Paul Dabrowski, Synthego’s CEO, said: “By leveraging our proprietary platform, the next phase in our product evolution will offer comprehensive solutions for genome engineering, simplifying highly precise and predictable science through scalable automation and machine learning.”
The round brought Synthego’s overall funding to approximately $50m since it was founded in 2012, and Founders Fund, Menlo, WI Harper Group and SciFi VC took part as existing investors.
The company had secured $8.3m in a 2013 equity round, after raising $450,000 in debt financing the previous year.