In March 2017, life sciences startup GRAIL announced that it had raised $900 million in Series B funding. The newly acquired investment capital puts GRAIL one step closer toward its goal of developing a blood test that can detect early signs of cancer.
Founded in 2016 by genomics company Illumina, GRAIL uses top-of-the-line DNA sequencing machinery to uncover early, free-floating cancer in the bloodstream. If caught during this early stage, its possible that the disease can be treated before it takes hold in the body.
But it takes a lot of time, money, and research to develop this kind of technology. While $900 million may sound like a lot of money, more will be needed before the company can complete its initiative.
GRAIL has said that it intends to raise at least $1 billion and possibly up to $1.8 billion by the end of its Series B round. The startup is currently in talks with Goldman Sachs to close another deal.
In January 2016, GRAIL raised $100 million in Series A funding backed by key investors ARCH Venture Partners, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos’ Bezos Expeditions, Illumina, McKesson Ventures, and Sutter Hill Ventures. In its most recent round of funding, GRAIL brought on Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation as a new investor.
To read more, read GRAIL’s feature in TechCrunch.