Seattle-based startup Parse Biosciences has acquired Biomage, an analysis software company based in Glasgow, Scotland.
Parse, which announced the acquisition Tuesday, aims to make data analysis easier for researchers, according to co-founder and CEO Alex Rosenberg. He added that Biomage has about 10 employees, all of whom are joining Parse.
The companies aren't disclosing financial terms of the deal.
"When you do single-cell sequencing, you're generating so much data that if you don't necessarily have that bioinformatics background, it can seem a little bit daunting at first to analyze the data," Rosenberg. "The idea here is to really create a much simpler experience for people."
Parse, which spun out of the University of Washington in 2018, offers single-cell sequencing technology to allow researchers to better understand the biology of an individual cell. Rosenberg and Parse Chief Technology Officer Charlie Roco, also a co-founder, began working on the technology in 2014.
Biomage, meanwhile, offers single-cell data analysis. The company says its software, called Cellenics, doesn't require writing code and can make publication-ready figures in hours.
Rosenberg said customers have been looking for easier ways to do bioinformatics, an area of science that uses technology to store and analyze biological data. He added that Parse currently has more than 100 employees, and the company will fold the Biomage brand into Parse.
Parse early last year moved into a 34,000-square-foot space at Dexter Yard in South Lake Union after previously being located in the Omeros Building at 201 Elliott Ave. W. The company raised $50 million in December and said in a news release its technology is used by over 1,000 labs. About 70% of the company's headcount is based in Seattle, Rosenberg said.
"This (acquisition) was something we've been in discussions with and have known the Biomage team for a while here, but certainly the funding round helped with this," Rosenberg said.
