eBay Founder Pierre Omidyar Leads $3M Series A in Low-Pass Genome Sequencing Firm Gencove

VCBeat (WeChat Official Account: vcbeat) has learned that Gencove, a low-throughput genomic sequencing company based in New York, USA, recently announced the completion of its $3 million Series A financing round led by the venture capital firm Spero Ventures. The sole managing partner of Spero Ventures is Pierre Omidyar, an entrepreneur and philanthropist who is also the founder of eBay. Alexandria Venture Investments, Burst Capital, Third Kind Venture Capital, and Version One Ventures also participated in Gencove’s financing round.

Gencove will use the funds to expand its genomic sequencing platform and scale up its commercial operations in human genetics. Shripriya Mahesh, co-founder of Spero Ventures, will join Gencove’s board of directors. Since its establishment in 2018, Spero Ventures has completed seven investments, with a total investment amount of $60 million.

“Genomics will become the foundation of health and well-being for humanity and indeed the entire planet,” said Shripriya Mahesh. “We are delighted to partner with Gencove to provide affordable whole-genome sequencing services to our clients and the broader healthcare industry, enabling them to bear the cost of large-scale integration of whole-genome sequencing.”

Joe Pickrell, CEO of Gencove, stated, “Spero Ventures boasts rich operational expertise and experience comparable to that of large-scale software companies, making it an ideal partner for Gencove’s expansion into new markets. We are delighted to welcome such a professional partner, which will deepen our understanding of human genomics and agricultural genomics.”

Gencove was founded by leading scientists from the New York Genome Center and has developed technology that enables high-throughput or low-cost genome sequencing. Leveraging its innovative genomic imputation technology, Gencove extracts high-quality genomic sequences from limited sequencing data. Its technology partners include BGI and SeqWell, while its customer base spans consumer, clinical, and agricultural markets, as well as leading academic institutions such as the Broad Institute, the University of Michigan, and the University of Oxford.

Earlier this year, New York City-based Gencove signed an agreement with intelligent healthcare platform Onegevity Health and technology company SeqWell to develop low-pass sequencing technology. This financing round, led by Spero Ventures, marks Gencove’s second funding round since its inception. The first round occurred on July 11, 2017, when Gencove completed a $1 million seed funding round.

Gencove, founded in December 2015 as an affiliate of the New York Genome Center, is dedicated to making genomic data interpretable and accessible through the development of molecular and computational tools. The company’s flagship product is its low-pass whole-genome sequencing platform. Gencove operates a laboratory in New York that provides low-pass sequencing and analytical software services, with its clientele primarily comprising leading academic institutions, biotechnology firms, and pharmaceutical companies.

Spero Ventures, established in March 2018, is an early-stage venture capital firm. With a diverse team, Spero Ventures primarily provides funding to mission-driven companies that have achieved a certain scale of risk. The firm firmly believes that what matters to humanity today will remain important in the future, regardless of technological advancements.

(Compiled by Wang Shuijing)