Sequoia Capital and a new investor Sofina SA has led $30 million (Rs 192 crore) Series C funding in Bengaluru based genomics diagnostics startup MedGenome Labs Pvt. Ltd. The existing investor Zodius Capital and other well-known private investors including former Infosys founder Kris Gopalakrishnan & former Cognizant CEO Lakshmi Narayanan also participated in the round.
With the latest round of funding, the diagnostics startup has so far managed to raise $54 million through various rounds of funding.
MedGenome will be using fresh funds to speed up the process of its affordable diagnostics tests. Additionally, the company will look to raise public awareness about the importance of genetic tests and also to broaden the scope of its biomarker discovery programs.
Founded in 2013 by Sam Santhosh, MedGenome aims to offer affordable diagnostics solutions in rare & complex diseases to Indian masses. Sequoia Capital said in a statement that through this latest round of funding it wanted to help MedGenome in achieving this noble goal. The company also owns a diagnostic lab in the Silicon Valley.
The genomics diagnostics segment is still considered to be in infancy stage in India, but has garnered lot of interest among investors owing to its untapped potential. The other two big players in this space are iGenetic Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd and Gurgaon-based Core Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd. The former had raked up nearly 133 crore from Manipal Education & UK based CDC Group Plc, while the latter managed to raise $12 million from Eight Roads Ventures and US-based F-Prime Capital Partners in December 2016.