US-based biotechnology company Twist Bioscience closed a $61m series D round yesterday backed by biotechnology company Illumina, healthcare company WuXi PharmaTech and biotechnology holding firm Institut Mérieux.
Financial services conglomerate Fidelity Management and Research also contributed funds to the round. WuXi invested through its corporate venturing unit, WuXi Healthcare Ventures, while Institut Mérieux participated through its private equity arm, Mérieux Développement.
The corporates were joined by Arch Overage Fund, Cormorant Asset Management, Foresite Capital Management, Arch Venture Partners, Tao Invest, Paladin Capital Group and private investors Yuri Milner and Boris Nikolic, as well as a range of unnamed corporate and VC investors.
Twist additionally secured $15m in debt financing, plus a $5m revolving account receivable line of credit, from Silicon Valley Bank. It will receive an undisclosed part of the money immediately, while the remaining capital is dependent on milestones.
Founded in 2013, Twist’s technology enables the synthesising of DNA which can then be used in medicines, agricultural products and chemicals, among other products.
The company will use the series D funding to complete a beta launch of its platform in early 2016, enter several more verticals on top of its current areas of industrial chemicals and data storage, and will seek partnerships with pharmaceutical companies and other industries.
Twist has raised $133m in funding and $20m in debt financing to date. Illumina led a $37m series C round in June 2015 that also featured Fidelity, Foresite, Tao, Arch Venture Partners, Paladin, Yuri Milner and several undisclosed backers.
François Valencony, general manager of Mérieux Développement, said: “Twist Bioscience moved from founding to commercialisation in just two years and is now ready to deliver impactful changes in the way synthetic DNA is sourced at global level.
“We are thrilled to support the expansion of commercial operations of the company in the US and internationally, as well as the development of novel vertical applications made possible by the Twist Bioscience technology.”