Tencent leads Series C for China gene sequencing player
Guangzhou-based precision diagnosis and gene sequencing company Vision Medicals has raised RMB200 million ($31 million) in Series C funding led by Tencent Holdings.
Other investors include China Capital Investment Group, CDH Investments and Cash Capital, the investment arm of Chinese Academy of Science Holdings. CDH led a Series B round of the same size last August. Cash Capital and Volcanics Venture provided the company's Series A in 2019.
Founded in 2018, Vision Medicals focuses on metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS), which allows for the identification of bacteria and viruses from clinical specimens without prior knowledge of a specific pathogen. It also operates a rapid-diagnosis platform.
The company has doubled its headcount since the Series B, now employing more than 400 people. Over the same period, Vision Medicals' stock of mNGS data samples has grown from 30,000 to more than 100,000. There are testing labs, R&D centers, and other facilities in Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.
Vision Medicals' client base comprises 800 medical institutions and there are also closer collaborations with several top hospitals including Peking Union Medical College Hospital under the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS).
The company participated in the earliest detection and sequence identification work on clinical coronavirus samples last year in Wuhan and Shanghai. The first batch of genome data for COVID-19 and was released in conjunction with CAMS.
Vision Medicals was one of two companies that helped regulators formulate a reference for COVID-19 detection reagents. This led to the development of three detection kits that have obtained EU certification.
Other investment activity in the gene-sequencing space includes a $1 billion round last year for MGI Tech, a manufacturer of gene sequencing devices. Sequencing and diagnostics service providers Genecast Biotechnology and 3D Diagnostic - a spinout from tumor immunotherapy player - have also received funding.
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