Estonian Plural leads $11.4M round for UK’s Sano Genetics
Sano Genetics, a Cambridge-based software platform for patient recruitment in clinical trials, has raised approximately $11.4 million (£9 million) in a fresh funding round led by Plural. The round also saw participation from MMC Ventures, Episode 1, and Seedcamp.
- Founded in 2016 by Patrick Short, Charlotte Guzzo, and William Jones, Sano Genetics combines genetic testing, recruitment, and long-term engagement in one platform, accelerating and simplifying operations for precision medicine teams driving breakthroughs for patients. The startup connects patients in the UK, US, Canada, and Australia with pharma and biotech companies conducting clinical trials.
- The startup also drives trial recruitment processes with advertising via social media and healthcare providers. The platform can also be used to manage the various aspects of a trial, such as participant communication and returning results.
Precision medicine is going to transform how healthcare is delivered but it needs seamless software tools like Sano Genetics’ to accelerate its impact. My own experience in the difficulty of running clinical trials during my time leading HelixNano helped me understand profoundly just how sorely a platform like Sano Genetics is needed,
Carina Namih, partner at Plural, commented.
Who are the investors?
- The fresh investment was led by Plural, a European early-stage investment fund, based in Tallinn, London, UK. The firm is on the mission to drive GDP-level impact across the whole of Europe. Recently, Plural raised €400 million for its second fund, reaching €660 million in total.
- Other investors included MMC Ventures, a European venture capital firm with a focus on early-stage companies across sectors like enterprise AI, fintech, data-driven health, and cloud & data infrastructure.
- Episode 1, a London-based VC firm investing in B2B software startups at pre-seed and seed stages.
- Seedcamp, Europe’s major seed fund, who also participated in the round.
In 2022, Sano Genetics already raised £8.4 million in its Series A round. The current investment will help the startup meet the market demand and further automate its processes.