The venture capital and private equity arm of Milwaukee's Robert W. Baird & Co. is investing in a San Diego life sciences startup that built technology designed to help researchers better understand human diseases.
Baird Capital, which is based in Chicago, was among investors to recently participate in Jumpcode Genomics' $21 million Series B round. Joining Baird in the round was Arboretum Ventures and Lyzz Capital.
Jumpcode Genomics was founded in 2016 and officially launched its next-generation sequencing technology in September of 2020. According to the company, its CRISPRclean platform is "the power of next generation sequencing by improving sensitivity, reducing costs and simplifying workflows." Essentially, it allows researchers to discover and detect molecules that were previously undetectable.
"The Jumpcode Genomics team and advisors have a tremendous amount of experience and knowledge in this sector," said Mike Liang, partner with Baird Capital, in a statement. "We believe the underlying technology within Jumpcode has revolutionary applications within the life sciences tools market and within clinical diagnostic applications."
Baird reported net revenue of $2.06 billion in 2019.
The investment will allow Jumpcode to "accelerate commercialization of the CRISPRclean technology, expand into additional market segments and further build our team,” said Jumpcode CEO Yaron Hakak.
“Since emerging from stealth mode in late 2020, we’ve received robust interest in Jumpcode from the life sciences community,” Hakak said. “Our CRISPRclean technology has helped scientists at renowned medical centers, academic and biotechnology organizations address research bottlenecks by depleting unwanted nucleic acid molecules from sequencing libraries, enabling them to see what they previously could not."
