NEW YORK – Illumina said on Wednesday that its Illumina Accelerator program has invested in six new startups from around the world.
The firms include Acrobat Genomics, a Stanford University spinout that uses high-throughput CRISPR gene editing to fill its pipeline of novel therapeutics; Nusantics, a genomics company from Indonesia that is developing microbiome-related diagnostic tools tailored for the Indonesian and other Asian populations; and Pandora Biosciences, a South African neuroscience company building genetically diverse and physiologically relevant organoid-based disease models for drug development for complex neurological diseases.
In addition to seed funding, the firms gain access to Illumina sequencing systems and reagents, business guidance, genomics expertise, and fully operational lab space adjacent to Illumina's campuses in Cambridge, UK, or the San Francisco Bay area.
Illumina has invested in 74 genomics startups through the accelerator, the firm said in a statement.