Date: Oct 08, 2012 Source: (
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GnuBIO, today announced that it has completed a $10 million Series B round of equity financing from a group of private investors which include existing Series A shareholders. The funding will be used to commercialize the company's desktop DNA sequencing platform, hire additional staff in product development, molecular biology, informatics and software engineering. The company plans to add sales and marketing hires over the next year as it prepares to launch its first product for targeted DNA sequencing.
"The completion of our funding will fuel the next phase of our company's growth and is a commitment from our investors in building the leading desktop DNA sequencing technology," said John Boyce, co-founder, president and CEO of GnuBIO. "We have built a world-class team and will continue to build upon our accomplishments to make our platform more robust and clinically relevant. Our funding, along with the recent government grant funding of $4.5MM, will help us translate our platform microfluidic technology into products for targeted and whole genome sequencing," Boyce continued.
GnuBIO was developed in the laboratory of David Weitz, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics & Applied Physics at Harvard University, a leading authority on microfluidics and emulsions. The Weitz lab was funded in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop the GnuBIO prototype. The company shipped an Early Access instrument to the Montreal Heart Institute in 2011 and will be delivering commercial systems in 2013.
The GnuBIO system is a fully integrated workflow in a single desktop system. It has the flexibility to enter research or clinical laboratories and can handle applications in infectious diseases, oncology, cardiovascular disease and a number of other indications. Due to its smaller form factor and ability to operate without the need for peripheral servers or devices, the GnuBIO system can be used by hospitals, research institutions, pharmaceutical companies, molecular diagnostic developers or even the physician's office.
