Diagnostics firm Karius announced that it has secured $100 million in series C funding in a recent financing round.
Current investor Khosla Ventures led the round, along with new investors 5AM Ventures and Gilde Healthcare. Softbank Vision Fund 2, General Catalyst, HBM Healthcare Investments, Blue Water Life Sciences, Innovation Endeavors, Waycross Ventures, and Seventure Partners also participated in the round, among others.
In a statement, the Redwood City, CA-based company said that it intends to use the funding to expand the number of U.S. hospitals beyond the 400 that are currently using its Karius Test, a liquid biopsy test aimed at helping physicians diagnose infections in immunocompromised patients. The Karius Test uses genomic analysis and artificial intelligence to detect over 1,000 pathogens from a blood sample.
The funds will also enable Karius to address increasing demand from healthcare providers for access to the diagnostic beyond the hospital setting, the company said. In addition, Karius said that it plans to use the funds for researching applications for its microbial cell-free DNA technology beyond infectious disease diagnostics.
Along with the funding announcement, Karius announced the appointment of three new board members. The new board members are partner Alex Morgan, a partner at Khosla Ventures; Joep Muijrers, general partner at Gilde Healthcare; and Andrew Booth, venture adviser at 5AM Ventures and AbCellera Biologics.
