Cloud-based startup Vineti, co-founded by GE Ventures and Mayo Clinic Ventures, has closed on a $33.5 million Series B round of funding.
The San Francisco-based company will put the capital to work on expanding its cloud-based software automation and analytics platform for cell and gene therapies.
The platform was built to thrust personalized therapies, such as CAR-T cell therapy, into mainstream medicine, said Vineti CEO and co-founder Amy DuRoss.
"We are in a crucial window to get production and delivery of personalized therapies right for a rapidly growing number of patients who are desperately in need,” Duross said.
The funding will also support Vineti’s further expansion in Europe and Asia-Pacific, providing a global solution to a critical personalized medicine barrier.
Canaan and DFJ led the funding round with participation from GE Ventures, Section 32, Casdin Capital, and LifeForce Capital, with other undisclosed investors.
Nina Kjellson, General Partner at Canaan, and Michael Pellini, MD, managing partner at Section 32 and chairman of Foundation Medicine, Inc., will join Vineti’s Board of Directors. All of Vineti’s founding investors will continue to participate in the company’s growth, including Mayo Clinic Ventures.
The recent FDA approval activity marks the beginning of a wave of new therapies with the potential to transform the treatment of cancer and serious genetic disorders, said DuRoss. By late 2017, there were 946 cell and gene therapy clinical trials underway worldwide, with more than 53 percent of those in oncology.
In 2018, oncology is expected to remain the largest market in medicine and is projected to grow to $165 billion by 2021.
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