54gene, a Nigerian Genomic startup, has secured a $4.5 million from YCombinator, Fifty Years, Better Ventures, KdT Ventures, Hack VC and Techammer.
54gene says that the new investment will be used to establish the world’s first biobank of African DNA. The data bank will help researchers in pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs while plugging the genomic gap in genetic data diversity.
The biobank is expected to have 40,000 samples by the end of the year. To achieve this, 54gene says it will work with 10 teaching hospitals operated by Nigerian universities. The company has already done similar before, working with three university hospitals on a pilot.
The new funding will also go into installing electronic data capture systems in hospitals in Nigeria and to hire team members for its Nigeria and US operations. The startup is also looking to expand to other African countries.
“This capital infusion allows us to move swiftly”, says Dr Abasi Ene-Obong, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of 54gene. “We are delighted to welcome like-minded, highly experienced investors, who will embark on this journey with us, to secure Africa’s pharma future and to impact millions of people’s lives through improved healthcare and drugs provision”, he adds.
Founded in 2019, 54gene is a genomics startup. The startup offers genetic testing and molecular diagnostics services to Africans which helps to unlock information about their health.
“It’s a dirty secret that the world’s genomic datasets are overwhelmingly Caucasian,” says Seth Bannon, founding partner at Fifty Years, an impacting investing firm. “By building datasets that are more inclusive, 54Gene will help democratize molecular medicine while unlocking insights that will lead to better therapeutics for everyone.”
In March 2019, the startup was a cohort for the YCombinator 2019 Winter program. As a cohort, the company received $150,000 funding from the tech hub and got the chance to pitch at the hub’s demo day event.
