BURLINGAME, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Color Genomics today announced a $45M investment led by General Catalyst with participation from Bono, singer-songwriter and philanthropist, and existing investors including Susan L. Wagner, 8VC, Khosla Ventures and Emerson Collective. The company also welcomes Susan L. Wagner, co-founder, former vice chairman, and chief operating officer of BlackRock and Hemant Taneja, managing director at General Catalyst, to its board of directors. The investment will further expand the company’s services for democratizing access to genetic information.
“We’re in the middle of one of the greatest shifts seen in health. Increased access to genetic information is enabling doctors and their patients to create personalized plans for better prevention, detection and treatment of hereditary disease,” said Elad Gil, CEO and co-founder of Color Genomics. “The new funding will go toward bringing even more people access to potentially life-saving genetic information and building the open databases necessary to further global research and development around major diseases.”
Today’s investment brings Color’s total funding to $60M and the new additions to its board of directors bring strong expertise in finance, health and business technology to the team. Susan Wagner co-founded BlackRock in 1988 and helped it become one of the world’s most successful asset-management companies, holding a range of leadership positions including vice chairman until mid-2012. She continues to serve on the boards of Apple, BlackRock, Swiss Re, Wellesley College and Hackley School. Hemant Taneja is a managing director at General Catalyst with a portfolio that includes companies in health, education, and financial technologies.
“Sue and Hemant are both pioneers in their respective industries,” said Othman Laraki, co-founder and president of Color Genomics. “Sue’s strong experience in finance and building a global business will be of great value to Color as we continue to grow. Hemant’s extensive experience in investments across healthcare and diagnostics as well as enterprise technology mirrors Color’s foundation of intersecting medical information with computer science and machine learning.”
“The Color team has a rare combination of extensive experience in consumer technology and a deep understanding of genomics. They’re using their talents to democratize access to personalized medical information for everyone,” said Hemant Taneja, managing director at General Catalyst. “And it’s that access to information that’s bringing customized health care - where practice and treatment are tailored to the individual - imminently within our reach.”
Since its launch in 2015, Color has been actively growing its services and is now in over 150 countries. Over the last year, the company expanded to cover eight of the most common hereditary cancers; exclusively partnered with top cancer research teams and clinics across the U.S. on breakthrough studies including a 100K WISDOM study with the entire UC system; was one of the only two genetics companies chosen to join the White House Precision Medicine Initiative for improving access to lifesaving information; and launched the first-ever precision medicine platform that companies such as Visa have offered to their employees as a benefit. Today’s funding and research donations will go toward continuing to democratize access to genetic information and advancing cancer research.
About Color Genomics
Color Genomics democratizes access to genetic information. The Color Test is physician-ordered and comes with complimentary board-certified genetic counseling for clients and healthcare providers. The 30-gene Color Test analyzes genes closely associated with some of the most common hereditary cancers: breast, colorectal, melanoma, ovarian, pancreatic, prostate, stomach, and uterine cancers. Headquartered in Burlingame, CA, Color Genomics is privately held and backed by Formation 8, General Catalyst, Khosla Ventures, and several leading angel investors. For more information, follow @Color on Twitter, view the Facebook page at facebook.com/Color or visit color.com.