Illumina's Grail is set to raise a more than $1 billion Series B financing round. Photo courtesy Illumina, Inc.

January 10, 2017 Comments (0) Views: 2514 Blog, Startup Buzz

Startup Buzz: Illumina’s Grail Gets Unicorn Status by Raising over $1 Billion

The New Year brings new funding, acquisitions, and directions for San Diego innovators

Follow the Money

San Diego has birthed a unicorn. Grail, a cancer testing company that spun out of Illumina, has announced it is set to raise a more than $1 billion Series B financing round, giving it unicorn status in the world of startup funding. Grail builds on the gene sequencing technology of Illumina to detect cancer. The company would not disclose potential investors, but past investors include Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Google Ventures. While still involved with the company, Illumina is expected to reduce its ownership and give up board seats as part of this new funding round.

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A year later we have learned that in early 2016, Amazon purchased San Diego-based cybersecurity startup Harvest.ai for $19 million. Looking to bolster its cloud security, Amazon purchased the company and moved its employees to Seattle. It wasn’t until CES last week and some digging by several tech journalists that confirmation was made of the details of the sale.

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Local security software company Trackforce received a $7.4 million investment from Kansas City-based Five Elms Capital. The company provides software and mobile applications for physical security operations.

Defensive Innovation

Lockheed Martin has acquired a minority stake in San Diego-based IQ Analog, a company that makes chips that move data at high rates of speed. As the military looks to the private sector to find new technologies that can improve military readiness, Lockheed is looking for young companies with technologies that could have strategic interest from the military. To that end, the company launched a $100 million fund over the summer to invest in these technologies and businesses. This is the first investment from that fund.

The Future of Qualcomm

Fast Company has an interesting look inside the future of Qualcomm as they try to get their chips inside smartwatches, VR headsets, autonomous cars, fitness bands, and more.