Oregon Venture Fund and Rogue Venture Partners have both backed University of Oregon's DNA testing services provider NemaMetrix to bring the spinout’s total to $8.5m.
NemaMetrix, a US-based DNA testing services spinout of University of Oregon, has secured $5m in a round led by VC fund Oregon Venture Fund with participation from Rogue Venture Partners, Portland Business Journal reported yesterday.
A regulatory filing dated February 2018 indicates the round has raised $5.2m of its $6.6m target.
Founded in 2011, NemaMetrix offers a DNA testing service whereby genetic material is inserted into a species of worm, C.elegans, used as a human proxy for pre-clinical drug discovery and disease research purposes.
C.elegans, also known as the nematode worm, is considered an ideal human proxy for its familiar nervous system, and the ability to alter its genetic foundations to emulate human ailments.
NemaMetrix’s technique takes approximately three months to complete and has so far been applied mainly for basic lab research, though the spinout hopes to target clinical applications by working to reduce the processing time to 10 days, utilising proceeds from the latest round.
The funding will also help NemaMetrix expand its headcount to more than 50 with the addition of six new hires as NemaMetrix prepares to move into a larger space in Eugene, Oregon.
NemaMetrix extends research pioneered by Shawn Lockery, a professor at University of Oregon’s Institute of Neuroscience who devised a method for examining nematode worms with fluids as opposed to tweezers or electrodes.
The spinout has reportedly raised approximately $8.5m of funding in total. It disclosed $1.6m in convertible notes and $2.5m in equity in regulatory filings in April 2018 and March 2017 respectively.
Cascade Angels Fund had previously led a $1m round for NemaMetrix in 2016 backed by Oregon Best, a state government-backed economic development initiative since renamed VertueLab, together with Portland Seed Fund, Oregon State Venture Fund, Tie Oregon and unnamed private investors, according to the Register-Guard.
