NEW YORK – Illumina Ventures said on Tuesday that it will be assuming control of the Illumina Accelerator program and rebranding it as Illumina Ventures Labs.
"Building on the foundation of the Illumina Accelerator program, Illumina Ventures Labs will operate and provide access to fully equipped genomics labs in the US and the UK, mentorship, and seed financing to attract a broad range of genomics related startups," Illumina Ventures said in a statement. Illumina will provide the startups with technical guidance and provide access to next-generation sequencing technology.
Financial and other terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Launched in 2014, the Illumina Accelerator provides select startups with undisclosed amounts of seed funding and access to genomics labs in either the San Francisco Bay Area or in Cambridge, UK.
Illumina Ventures, founded in 2016, is an independently managed venture capital firm. Illumina participates in the fund, but the majority of capital has been raised from other partners.
"This expansion of our relationship with Illumina is a continuation of Illumina Ventures' strategy to pursue earlier stage investing," Nick Naclerio, founding partner of Illumina Ventures, said in a statement. "The program will give early-stage companies a jump-start and accelerate timelines to the next value inflection point while providing additional investment opportunities for our fund."