{"id":2116,"date":"2020-08-28T02:02:46","date_gmt":"2020-08-28T02:02:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wiharper.com\/?p=2116"},"modified":"2020-08-28T02:02:46","modified_gmt":"2020-08-28T02:02:46","slug":"wi-harper-group-backed-synthego-raises-100m-in-pursuit-of-virtualizing-biology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wiharper.com\/wi-harper-group-backed-synthego-raises-100m-in-pursuit-of-virtualizing-biology\/","title":{"rendered":"WI Harper Group-backed Synthego Raises $100M in pursuit of ‘virtualizing biology’"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]WI Harper Group<\/a> | August 27, 2020\u00a0 \u00a0Source: <\/strong>Synthego<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1598580867646{background-color: #e4e4e4 !important;}”]CRISPR platform company Synthego announced that it raised\u00a0$100 million in a Series D financing led by new investor Wellington Management, co-led by RA Capital Management and 8VC. Previous investors include: WI Harper Group, Founders Fund, Menlo Ventures, and Intel Capital. This new round brings Synthego\u2019s total private funding to more than $250 million. Synthego will use the proceeds from the financing to expand the capabilities of its proprietary platforms.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image source=”external_link” external_img_size=”400×200″ alignment=”center” custom_src=”https:\/\/wiharper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/IMG_6298.jpg”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]For several years now, Synthego has been helping academic researchers and companies run tests and experiments that require gene editing. However, when WI Harper Group initially invested into Synthego\u2019s Series A round in 2013, the company was operating in stealth. WI Harper Group\u2019s conviction to back the company came two-fold: an opportunity to disrupt the archaic processes of synthetic biology and disease treatment; and a strong conviction in Paul and Michael Dawbroski\u2019s (both SpaceX alumni) unique capabilities \u2013 the powerful combination of engineering and biology that enable scaling. WI Harper Group saw a revolution in gene editing and disease treatment.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Fast-forward to the current \u2013 Synthego\u2019s platform makes world-class genome engineering tools accessible to all scientists by accelerating research and adoption of CRISPR to help make it a standard lab technique. CEO Paul Dabrowski said he wants to use their more recent and future funding to push the company to a far more ambitious goal, one that the former SpaceX engineer couches in terms reminiscent of an a16z blog post: \u201cvirtualizing biology.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Mainly, though, what Dabrowski means is that they\u2019ll not only provide people with the tools to run CRISPR and cell therapy experiments, but in many cases fully run the experiments for them.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis idea of virtualizing biology: In the tech world, you have cloud server infrastructure. Amazon Web Services is, like, a thing. You would never try to build out your own infrastructure of servers and maintain all of that. You just swipe your credit card and go, and you focus on your content, your website, your media,\u201d he told Endpoints News. \u201cAnd I foresee this becoming a reality probably within the next 5-10 years, where scientists get to focus on their domain, their biology, their cell models, their disease areas and they don\u2019t have to worry about the underlying difficulties of doing the experimental work.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image source=”external_link” external_img_size=”400×200″ alignment=”center” custom_src=”https:\/\/wiharper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screen-Shot-2020-08-27-at-2.02.06-PM.png”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Partially that would mean just doing the work of a specialized CRO. But Dabrowski says Synthego has been focusing on standardization and scale, building out predictability software and an automated factory that would make them far more efficient than companies or researchers could be on their own.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]\u201cThe expectation is that the turnaround times keep getting shorter, the success rates get higher, and ultimately this whole thing becomes \u2014 you swipe your credit card and go,\u201d he said.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Since the 2012 launch, Synthego has expanded from largely providing CRISPR guide RNA to a suite of options, most recently adding capabilities to edit iPSC stem cells line on a large scale. During the pandemic, they\u2019ve aided several efforts, most notably an analysis of how SARS-CoV-2 proteins interact with human ones that was later published in Nature.\u00a0And they provided guide RNAs for Sherlock\u2019s CRISPR-based diagnostic. Dabrowski said more tools are in the works and will be added in the near future.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

| About Synthego:<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

Synthego<\/a> is a genome engineering company that enables the acceleration of life science research and development in the pursuit of improved human health. The company leverages machine learning, automation, and gene editing to build platforms for science at scale. With its foundations in engineering disciplines, the company\u2019s full-stack platform vertically integrates proprietary hardware, software, bioinformatics, chemistries, and molecular biology to advance both basic research and therapeutic development programs. By providing both commercial and academic researchers and therapeutic developers with unprecedented access to cutting-edge genome engineering products and services, Synthego is at the forefront of innovation in engineered biology.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

| About WI Harper Group:<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

WI Harper<\/a>\u00a0is a pioneer and leading cross-border venture capital firm investing in early and expansion stage companies globally. With offices in San Francisco, Beijing, and Taipei, the firm actively oversees more than $1 billion in assets under management. Since inception nearly three decades ago, WI Harper has invested in over 400 startups and has successfully experienced more than 100 IPO and M&A exits.<\/p>\n

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We look for innovative companies and visionary founders in healthcare, technology and sustainability fields where there are high synergies and meaningful value added cross selling opportunities. While our healthcare team is presently honing on bioinformatics and digital biology, our technology team is focused blockchain, big data, analytics, artificial intelligence, AR\/VR, IoT, robotics, drones, autonomous driving, as well as digital media and green energy projects.<\/p>\n

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