Madison-based cancer diagnostics startup Elephas Biosciences Corp. has raised $41.5 million in a Series B financing round as it prepares to launch two human clinical trials, the company announced Tuesday.
The startup is building a platform designed to determine whether a given type of therapy will work for a patient before their treatment begins. Its technology tests patient biopsies against different drugs, and uses advanced 3D imaging and artificial intelligence to predict their effectiveness.
Elephas said it's launching the clinical trials in the next quarter. Next year, it plans to share initial clinical data and make the platform available to biopharma researchers, according to the announcement.
Elephas was founded in 2020 by Maneesh Arora, the former chief operating officer at Exact Sciences Corp. (Nasdaq: EXAS), another Madison cancer diagnostics firm known for its at-home colon cancer test Cologuard.
The startup has raised nearly $70 million to date. The Series B announcement comes a year after it announced $20 million in Series A funding in September 2021. It also raised $8 million in seed investments, the company said.
Elephas has 79 employees, according to PitchBook.
Elephas's latest financing round was led by Arch Venture Partners, a Chicago venture capital firm that recently raised a new $3 billion fund to back early-stage biotech companies.
"Technology that will allow patients to receive the most effective therapy quickly, before time and resources are spent on ineffective options, will change the game for those diagnosed with cancer," Paul Berns of Arch Venture Partners said in a statement.
Other new Elephas investors that participated in the Series B round were Moore Strategic Ventures and San Francisco-based family investment office Tao Capital Partners.
Previous Elephas investors — Northpond Ventures, Sands Capital and Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation Ventures — also participated in the Series B round.
