U.S.-based leading genetic analysis and DNA sequencing solution provider, Illumina Inc. is reportedly collaborating with an investment company Sequoia Capital China to launch a life sciences incubator in the country. Sources claimed that the launch is aimed at catalyzing the startup ecosystem in China and assisting newly established companies in developing breakthrough applications in genomics.
For the uninitiated, Sequoia Capital China is a Beijing-headquartered venture capital firm that primarily invests in healthcare, financial services, energy, retail, education, B2B, distribution, agriculture, and various technology sectors.
The new life sciences incubator will be named as the Intelligent Healthcare Genomics Incubator, which leverage Illumina’s expertise regarding genomics-based startup companies. On the other hand, Sequoia Capital will provide its investment expertise as well as its widespread access to entrepreneurs.
According to reliable sources, the incubator will have biannual funding cycles and will offer selected startups with business and investment guidance from Sequoia Capital along with access to Illumina’s reagents, sequencing systems, and genomics expertise. The activities will be carried out in a completely operational lab space in Shanghai and the first funding cycle is expected to commence in the fall of 2021.
CEO of Illumina, Francis deSouza, was reported saying that the newly formed alliance will collaborate with leading entrepreneurs in China to establish genomics-based startup companies to accelerate the development of groundbreaking clinical sequencing solutions in the country.
It is also worth mentioning that Sequoia Capital had unveiled the Sequoia Digital Intelligent Industry Incubation Center in April 2020, an incubator aimed at building an ecosystem which provides support for digital intelligence startups in the fields of industrial collaboration, resource links, and overall enterprise development.
About Illumina Inc.
Since its inception in 1998, Illumina’s primary focus revolves around developing, manufacturing and marketing integrated systems for the analysis of genetic variation as well as biological function. The company’s products have widespread applications across numerous domains including agriculture, reproductive health, oncology, life sciences, and other emerging healthcare sectors.
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