LaserGen has raised $5 million in a Series A financing round, which it will use to demonstrate accurate sequencing of the Escherichia coli genome and to continue developing its next-generation sequencing system.
Additionally, LaserGen has enlisted consulting firm Popper and Company to help with commercialization of the platform.
"The time is right to think about how to deliver the new NGS system to the marketplace," LaserGen CEO Michael Metzker said in a statement.
Houston-based LaserGen, a Baylor College of Medicine spinout, has been developing a next-gen sequencing system based on its reversible terminator chemistry, dubbed Lightning Terminators.
In July, the company disclosed that it would develop the system with National Instruments, and said that it expects to submit a paper for publication by the fall (IS 7/19/2011).
The financing round was led by Aspen MedTech Ventures III Limited, and also included investments from LBS Technologies, San Luis Developments, LP, and other Houston angel investors.