NEW YORK — UK diagnostics company DnaNudge has raised $60 million in its first major financing round, a representative for the firm said this week.
The financing was led by Ventura Capital, a London-based outfit with interests in consumer and cybersecurity technologies. Zurich-based Bank Julius Baer also contributed to the round.
The funding will be used to accelerate global deployment of DnaNudge's menu of rapid tests, including CovidNudge, its lab-free real-time PCR test for SARS-CoV-2, the representative said.
DnaNudge originally targeted the direct-to-consumer genetic testing market, offering customers information about their genetic risks for certain health conditions, as well as recommendations on changes to nutrition and behavior, based in part on information from its handheld real-time PCR platform, the NudgeBox.
During the pandemic, the company refocused and developed a point-of-care assay for SARS-CoV-2, called CovidNudge, which received the CE-IVD mark last year, prompting a UK National Health Service order of 5.8 million COVID-19 tests in August 2020.
Also last year, the company introduced a service for testing groups of people for SARS-CoV-2 called the COVID Bubble Test. The service allows the testing of up to 10 people on a single cartridge.