SeqOne: making genomic medicine accessible to everyone

We are delighted to announce our investment in SeqOne, one of the sexiest cloud-based biotech companies!

💥 The right treatment at the right time 💥

Based in Montpellier, SeqOne was cofounded by two childhood friends, Nicolas Philippe and Guillaume Buwalda, who imagined a better way to analyse genomic data in healthcare. With support from the Montpellier University Hospital (CHRU de Montpellier), the Institute for Regenerative Medicine (IRMB), and the SATT AxLR, they developed a high-performance, cloud-based, AI-driven platform, designed for the genomic experts who advise doctors on how to best use genetics to improve patient outcomes. SeqOne’s primary customers are the hospitals, clinics and medical testing labs that are at the heart of the genomic medicine revolution.

Learn more here after! 👇

💥 Our investment thesis💥

Here is what we love about this company (and why we are delighted they join the ElaiaFamily):

A/ A huge playground

A healthcare revolution is happening and it is called genomic medicine. Type in “Next Generation Sequencing” on Google and go ahead to discover how big the playground is: $12B market worldwide, growing at 10% per year and expected to grow even faster in the coming years! 🤫

Let’s flashback a bit: the time and the cost of sequencing genomes were reduced by a factor of 1 million in less than 10 years. A new chapter just opened up: easy to use clinical software. SeqOne enables clinicians to quickly analyze sequencing data in order to make diagnostics for a variety of applications such as cancers, rare diseases, prenatal diagnosis.

B/ An awesome team

Here is what we love about this team!

Nicolas, Guillaume and Jean Marc form a complementary, balanced team combining deep domain expertise and proven cloud native skills!

• Nicolas Philippe: After a maths post doc, this true scientist, technologist and data expert decided to become an entrepreneur because «I like research but mean to have more impact with entrepreneurship »
• Guillaume Buwalda: After having worked for Credit Agricole on the most demanding computer systems, Guillaume has designed SeqOne’s cloud native platform with performance, security and scalability in mind.
• Jean-Marc Holder: This international technology marketer has worked for Apple, as well as numerous startups and brings a valuable business spin to the adventure!

C/ A tech complex product made for doctors by doctors

• A complex product with a high barrier to entry, in terms of IT infrastructure, AI algorithm and domain expertise — including invaluable first hand data
• During the due diligence, we were amazed at how much the clients are already convinced and have confirmed both its superior performance and the long term value.
• It’s an easy to use product that dramatically improves both the productivity and the quality of genomics data analysis. SeqOne reduces the work required to provide an analysis from days to hours by incorporating diverse bioinformatics software into one platform and standardizing workflows.

“I caught up to 6 months of diagnostic backlog thanks to SeqOne” declares the head of genetics at Rennes University Hospital

D/ The vision: Saving lives!

Sure enough, it’s deep tech; but deep tech with the vision of personalized medicine. They seek to dramatically simplify the process of analysing genetic data while providing the type of information doctors need to help their patients.

E/ “For the 1st time in Elaia’s history”

For the first time in Elaia’s history, both of our active funds Elaia Delta Fund and PSL Innovation Fund co-invested. Marc Rougier and Franck Lescure combined their knowledge and experience in both digital and biotech to make this deal happen!

Learn more about SeqOne in Les Echos, La Tribune, Usine Digitale & Tech&Co on BFM.

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