Early cancer detection platform Epigeneres Biotech said it has raised $6 million (around Rs 44 crore) as a part of its Series B funding led by Kotak Mahindra’s alternative asset arm Kotak Investment Advisors Limited, Moez Daya of Satya Capital and LetsVenture Angel Fund.
The round also saw participation from Ashish Kacholia, East River Advisors, One Decacorn, Nandita Advisors and Chockalingam Valliappa, among other investors.
The Mumbai-based company plans to use the fresh funds to ramp up its lab facilities, scale operations and to launch its artificial intelligence-based service platform in India.
Epigeneres Biotech, set up in 2012, is a biotechnology platform that discovers, develops, manufactures and commercialises molecular medicines and nutrigenomic formulations for the treatment and prevention of serious medical conditions like cancer and ageing diseases.
In May 2021, Epigeneres Biotech announced their early detection cancer test in partnership with Singapore’s Tzar Labs, which is a specialised molecular diagnostic company.
They came up with a breakthrough in RNA bio-markers technology which can detect cancer in stage zero (before tumour formation). Epigeneres Biotech claims to be the only Tzar Labs licensee in India.
Anish Tripathi, the Managing Director of Epigeneres Biotech, said that the company is planning launch of its India service in the next few months.
“The ability to detect cancer through a simple blood test at stage zero can be a major breakthrough that can change the way cancer diagnosis is approached. We see this as an excellent opportunity to partner in the pioneering growth story of a home-grown Indian company that is innovating diagnostic technologies in Oncology” said Nitin Deshmukh, Senior Advisor, Kotak Investment Advisors Limited.
