Seattle-based Parse Biosciences has raised a $41.5 million Series B round.
With the round, announced Tuesday, Parse aims to double its roughly 40-person team over the next year, said Charlie Roco, its co-founder and chief technology officer. Alex Rosenberg, the company's co-founder and CEO, said about two-thirds of the company is based in the Seattle area.
"In general, this is an area that moves very quickly," Rosenberg said. "Given the platform nature of our technology, there's a lot of potential here in terms of follow-on applications."
On its website, Parse has open roles in account management, sales and science. The company currently has office space in Interbay near Myrtle Edwards Park. Although Parse couldn't give specifics, the company plans to significantly expand its footprint in Seattle with additional lab and office space this year.
Parse spun out of the University of Washington in 2018. Rosenberg and Roco both earned their doctorate degrees from the UW, and Rosenberg said the technology behind Parse developed during their research. When other researchers wanted access to the technology behind their research, Rosenberg said the duo realized they needed to commercialize it.
The company provides single-cell sequencing technology, which allows researchers to better understand the biology of an individual cell. Parse's offerings include a kit to collect samples and software to analyze the data. According to Roco, Parse's customers are researchers at the likes of universities and drug development companies. The company has raised more than $50 million total, including a $7 million Series A round in January 2021.
Marshall Wace and Janus Henderson Investors led the round, while Soleus Capital, Logos Capital and Bioeconomy Capital participated. With the money, Rosenberg said Parse will continue pushing into markets in Asia and Europe, as well continue developing its products.
"At a high level, what these products are going to be doing is adding more capabilities to researchers," Roco said.
