Bellevue-based biotech Viome Life Sciences has raised $54 million in pre-Series C convertible funding.
The investment, which was announced Wednesday, will go toward research aimed at cancer and other chronic illnesses, according to the company. Viome said it is also doing research for therapeutics aimed at Alzheimer's, metabolic diseases and mental health.
"With each new development, we are getting that much closer to making illness optional and empowering individuals to own their own health and wellbeing," Viome Life Sciences founder and CEO Naveen Jain said in a news release. "We are privileged to have the continued support and backing from our investors and board, and look forward to an even more dynamic year ahead."
Viome, founded in 2016, is split into two divisions. Its consumer sciences division focuses on products like tests, nutrition plans and supplements. Its health sciences division, meanwhile, focuses on precision diagnostics and therapeutics. The company has gained FDA breakthrough device designation for its early stage oral and throat cancer screening platform.
Viome has raised more than $125 million so far. In addition to its corporate headquarters in Bellevue, Viome moved into a roughly 25,000-square-foot lab in Bothell this year. In September, Viome announced Nordstrom would start carrying its at-home gut and immune system test.
Jain has founded a variety of companies over the years, including startups in information and space exploration. He has faced controversy in the past, particularly for his role as the founder and CEO of Infospace, a dot-com company founded in 1996. According to a Seattle Times report, Jain and other company executives lied about hitting revenue targets, and the company's stock plummeted from about $1,000 per share in March 2000 to $2.67 in June 2002, after the company's demise.
Khosla Ventures, West River Group, Glico, Physician Partners, Bold Capital Group and Ocgrow Ventures all participated in the round.
"The future of healthcare is individual and personalized, and few companies have been driving innovation in this space as rapidly as Viome," Vinod Khosla, founder and CEO of Khosla Ventures, said in a news release. "We are proud to support Viome's efforts to find early diagnostic and potential therapeutics for chronic disorders and cancers."
