Personal genomics company Helix is working with Illumina Accelerator, the world’s first business accelerator focused solely on creating an innovation ecosystem for the genomics industry. The two organizations will partner with entrepreneurs to foster and accelerate innovation and development of DNA-driven products and insights for consumers.
“Through our collaboration with Illumina Accelerator, we hope to provide breakthrough startups with the resources, infrastructure and support to transform their ideas into compelling consumer applications and services that make genomics relevant and accessible to every person based on their unique interests,” Robin Thurston, CEO of Helix, said in a statement.
Select Illumina Accelerator startups developing DNA-powered products for consumers will now have access to Helix’s team of experts in next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics, applied genomics, software and product development, regulatory affairs, quality assurance, consumer marketing, and business development.
“Illumina Accelerator is focused on driving value for genomics startups by providing access to vital resources such as capital, sequencing and genomics expertise, coaching, and local lab and office space,” Mostafa Ronaghi, Ph.D., Illumina’s Senior VP and CTO and co-founder of Illumina Accelerator, said in a statement. “By working with Helix during our seventh funding cycle, select startups will have unparalleled access to Helix’s commercial market expertise and sequencing platform for their consumer applications.”
Illumina Accelerator operates on a six-month funding cycle, during which selected startups receive business guidance, seed investment, and access to Illumina’s software, fully operational lab space in the San Francisco Bay Area, sequencing systems and reagents, and match funding through the $40 million Illumina Accelerator Boost Capital.
Applications for Illumina Accelerator’s seventh funding cycle are due by September 1, 2017.
Last month, Helix launched the first online marketplace for DNA-powered products that offer insights on ancestry, entertainment, family, fitness, health and nutrition.