Inscripta, the genome editing company that recently launched a benchtop instrument for genome-scale engineering, said today it has raised $125 million in Series D financing, bringing its total capital raised to $259.5 million.
Inscripta said it would use proceeds from the financing to accelerate applications expansion and commercialization of the company’s Onyx™ Digital Genome Engineering platform—which according to the company is the world’s first fully automated benchtop instrument for genome-scale engineering.
Launched in October, the Onyx platform consists of an instrument, consumables, software, and assays. Onyx is designed to enable scientists to create libraries of millions of precisely-engineered single cells in one experiment through a fully automated workflow that enables massively parallel, trackable editing of single cells at an unprecedented scale.
Inscripta said Onyx is intended to equip scientists in genome discovery, healthcare, bio-industrial materials development and manufacturing, and sustainability with the ability to design, engineer, evaluate, and track results of genome engineering experiments within their own labs.
“The overwhelming interest we received with the recent launch of our Onyx platform along with this significant funding offer tremendous validation of our novel approach to genome engineering and its power to unlock the full potential of the emerging bioeconomy,” Inscripta CEO Kevin Ness, PhD, said in a statement.
“We are excited to see that by overcoming the limitations of existing CRISPR-based gene editing, our digital genome engineering tools are already having a significant impact by enabling researchers to design experiments that were previously impossible,” Ness added. “The new funding provides us with the resources to ramp up faster to meet the anticipated high demand for our platform.”
The financing was led by Paladin Capital Group, with support from the company’s existing investors and new investors JS Capital Management, and Oak HC/FT.
Other investors in Inscripta include Venrock, Foresite, Mérieux Développement, NanoDimension, and MLS Capital. Inscripta is headquartered in Boulder, CO, with offices in Pleasanton, CA, and San Diego.
“We have been extremely impressed with the Inscripta team’s passion, focus, and relentless execution, which culminated in the successful launch of the Onyx Digital Genome Engineering platform,” added Paul Conley, PhD, Managing Director & Venture Studio Director at Paladin Capital Group. “We are thrilled to lead this funding round and believe Inscripta’s technology will be essential for enabling biology to become the driving force of our economy.”
About Paladin Capital Group
Paladin Capital Group was founded in 2001 and has offices in Washington DC, New York, London, Luxembourg, and Silicon Valley. As a multi-stage investor, Paladin focuses on best-of-breed companies with technologies, products, and services that meet the challenging global cyber security and digital infrastructure resilience needs for commercial and government customers. Paladin has over $1 billion in committed capital across multiple funds. Follow the firm on Twitter @Paladincap, and visit their website at www.paladincapgroup.com.