Paris Saclay Seed Fund and all other existing backers returned for the series B round, which additionally attracted Tsinghua University’s TUS Holdings.
Stilla Technologies, a France-based DNA quantification spinout of École Polytechnique, has collected €20m ($21.8m) in a series B round featuring Paris Saclay Seed Fund, the venture fund of University of Paris-Saclay, according to Biotech News.
TUS Holdings, the holding corporation of Tsinghua University, invested in the round through its Tuspark Europe division, while Illumina Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of genomics technology producer Illumina, also participated.
Financial services firm BNP Paribas took part through its BNP Paribas Développement unit and was joined by investment firm Kurma Partners and private equity firms Idinvest Partners and LBO France.
Founded in 2013, Stilla Technologies has developed a platform called Naica System that enables researchers to automate the detection of DNA mutations. The spinout is targeting the full spectrum of life sciences with its technology, from clinical research to genomics.
The funding will allow Stilla to double its current headcount of 80 staff as it seeks to increase commercialisation activities and bolster R&D efforts around the next generation of Naica, which is expected to detect multiple genetic markers at once.
Stilla previously secured $18m in a series A round backed by Paris Saclay Seed Fund in 2018. Illumina Ventures led that round, with further participation from BNP Paribas Développement, Kurma Partners, Idinvest Partners and LBO France.
École Polytechnique is one of the member institutions of University of Paris-Saclay.