Bellevue biotech Viome raises $67M for health screening tests
SEATTLE, Oct. 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Bellevue-based biotech Viome Life Sciences has raised over $67 million in Series C funding.
The funding will go toward growing the company's health screening test business, said Viome founder and CEO Naveen Jain. He added that the company has 150 employees right now, of which all but about 25 are based in the Seattle area, and the company will likely grow to about 200 total employees in a year.
"All of our lab is automated. All of our supplement manufacturing is automated," Jain said. "Unlike a warehouse at Amazon, we don't require, as the company grows, more people to push the stuff around. Of course we're going to hire more scientists. We're going to hire more research people. We're going to hire more engineers."
Viome, founded in 2016, makes at-home gut and immune system tests. The company also makes a test for oral and throat cancer, and it is developing a mouth-based test for systemic diseases. In addition to its office in Bellevue, Viome has a lab in Bothell. The company raised $54 million in November 2021 and says it has now raised more than $150 million total.
Jain is a serial entrepreneur who has founded companies like Intelius and Moon Express. He was also the founder and CEO of InfoSpace, a company that saw its stock drop from about $1,000 per share in March 2000 to $2.67 per share in June 2002. A Seattle Times report found InfoSpace misled the public about its revenue. Jain said InfoSpace never did anything wrong, and the company never faced scrutiny from any government agency.
Bold Capital Group led the Series C round, while Khosla Ventures, WestRiver Group, Glico, Ocgrow Ventures and Physician Partners participated.
Jain said the company will look at adding to its physical footprint as the team grows, but Viome has no immediate plans to add office space. As for venturing into the biotech space after founding previous companies in space exploration and background checks, Jain said fresh perspectives can be valuable for the industry.
"Fundamentally, my belief is that actually the biggest asset is to really not be an expert in the field," Jain said. "If you want to be incrementally better, you have to be an expert because an expert can make something 10% better, but they can never make it 10 times better. To make something 10 times better, you have to fundamentally rethink, reimagine and recreate the foundation."