Samsung Electronics invests $175 million in Element Biosciences' Series E funding round

Samsung Electronics Co

Tue 17:23

June 9 (Reuters) - Privately held Element Biosciences said on Tuesday it had raised funds in an upsized Series E round, including $175 million from longtime investor Samsung Electronics 005930.KS, to expand  commercialization of its genetic testing and research products.
The San Diego-based company did not disclose the total size of the round or its valuation. It also did not name the other investors. 
Element said the financing would support commercialization of its sequencing products, such as AVITI and VITARI, as well as the upcoming launches of AVITI Dx and AVITI24.
The AVITI sequencing system is benchtop gene-sequencing equipment that decodes DNA and RNA for applications including medical research, disease detection and drug development. 
In the gene-sequencing market, Illumina ILMN.O remains the dominant player, while Roche ROGC.S has been expanding its footprint through partnerships and investments in next-generation sequencing and molecular diagnostics.
Element said the funding would also help expand its international presence and support development of future products for research, drug development and diagnostic uses.
The financing is subject to regulatory approval.
The new financing follows Element's $277 million Series D round announced in July 2024.

 (Reporting by Padmanabhan Ananthan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)
 ((Padmanabhan.Ananthan@thomsonreuters.com;))