Element Biosciences, another San Diego startup led by ex-Illumina talent, raised $15 million in a Series A round.
The company is developing analysis tools to parse an explosion of genomics data, in a way that’s simpler than commonly used mainframe computers.
“The capital raised will fuel the company’s R&D to implement innovative changes across each element, from reagents to instrument to data analysis,” said Molly He, co-founder and CEO of Element, in a news release. “We are on an aggressive path to introduce a high quality, flexible platform to make genetic analysis more accessible and adaptable to a broad customer base.”
She’s also a venture partner at Foresite Capital, which led the round along with Venrock. Previously, He was a senior director of protein engineering at Illumina.
Element is the latest genomics upstart with an Illumina pedigree, a trend that largely speaks to the falling cost of DNA sequencing creating new opportunities.
The company’s analysis mission seemingly overlaps with Edico Genome, a San Diego company specializing in genomics data processing that Illumina bought for $100 million last year.
