NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Personal genomics firm Helix announced today that it has secured the first close of a series B financing round that will bring in an anticipated $200 million.
DFJ Growth led the funding round, which included participation from all of Helix's founding investors including Illumina, Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, Mayo Clinic, Sutter Hill Ventures, and Warburg Pincus. Barry Schuler, Partner at DFJ Growth and former CEO of America Online, will join Helix’s board of directors.
Helix launched in 2015 with $100 million in investments with the goal of making sequencing accessible to consumers. The company collects customers’ samples once and performs exome sequencing, after which users can order apps from Helix’s online store that interpret the data to offer insights about their health, fitness, nutrition, family, and ancestry, as well as for recreational purposes.
Currently, the firm offers 35 apps in its store from 20 partners, but is aiming to grow its product portfolio to 50 in 2018. Helix said in a statement that it is planning "major launches" during the year in the health segment from partners like Mayo Clinic.
"Of the estimated 12 million people who have purchased a consumer genomics service to date, more than 7 million did so for the first-time in 2017," Jay Flatley, executive chairman at Illumina, said in a statement. "We are clearly at an inflection point in personal genomics and Helix is well-positioned to take advantage of this growth."
For more on Helix's plans for the new funding, click here.