PetaGene’s genomic data compression technology backed by new finance

Cambridge-based genomics data compression company PetaGene has secured a further $2.1million in funding following the signing of "a large contract with a major pharmaceutical company".

Romulus Capital led the investment round with participation from other investors based in Silicon Valley and London, including Entrepreneur First backed by Greylock Partners. The latest investment brings PetaGene’s total funding to $3.2 million. The new funding will help the company grow its technical team based at in Cambridge, its global sales team and further expand PetaGene’s product offerings.

Lead investor Romulus Capital is an early stage VC fund founded out of MIT in 2008. It focusses on building technology and science-enabled companies. It seeks to invest in companies selling technology that solves real problems in large traditional industries or deep technology companies that have spun out of top-tier research groups.

Krishna K Gupta, founder and general partner of Romulus Capital said: “I was impressed by what part of the genomics value chain PetaGene was targeting with its best-in-class compression software when we made our initial investment in 2017. Since then, their ability to successfully develop their product for the cloud and the strong interest from potential customers have only served to reinforce our view.

“PetaGene offer powerful solutions for a growing industry and we’re delighted to support them as they play their part in democratising personalised medicine.”

PetaGene co-founder Dan Greenfield said: “Romulus have been amazing in helping us grow and overcome challenges. They’ve really really rolled up their sleeves to help us build a better company.

"Entrepreneur First is a fantastic community and we’re proud to be part of it. Two years on, and we regularly catch up with our mentors who continue to give us great advice.”

The latest development brings PetaGene's total funding to date to $3.2million. The new funding will help grow its technical team in Cambridge, enhance its global sales team plus "further expand PetaGene's product offerings".

"The founders came from the university, and there was a joint project with EMBL-EBI (European Bioinformatics Institute)," co-founder and CEO Dan Greenfield told the Cambridge Independent, "but PetaGene itself didn’t spin out of the university."

PetaGene was incorporated in April 2016 by Dan and fellow co-founder Vaughan Wittorff.