NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – TL Biolabs said today that it recently closed a $4 million round of venture capital financing. The proceeds from the seed round will enable the Santa Clara, California-based company to fund the development and commercial launch of a $15 genomic test for dairy and beef cattle.
TL Biolabs CEO Fred Turner said in a statement that the firm's new test will "empower farmers to make informed breeding and management decisions and positively impact their bottom line."
The company said it intends to hire new engineers, scientists, and developers to complete the R&D work on the test ahead of its planned debut this summer.
Andreessen Horowitz, a Menlo Park, California-based venture capital firm, led the round. Burlingame, California-headquartered Refactor Capital, British tech entrepreneur Josh Buckley, and Mountain View, California-based seed accelerator Y Combinator also contributed.
TL Biolabs produces its own 50,000-SNP microarrays to carry out its test as a service. Customers will submit samples to the firm, which will return back information on their cows' health, productivity, and fertility, enabling them to make management and breeding decisions. The company's software also advises customers on which calves they should sell or keep, or which bulls to breed.
Turner, a University of Oxford biochemist, co-founded TL Biolabs in Oxford, UK in 2013. The firm relocated to Santa Clara, where it incorporated last summer.