MENLO PARK, Calif.– Deepcell, a life science company pioneering AI-powered single cell classification and isolation for basic and translational research, today announced that it has closed its $73 million Series B round of financing. The new funding will allow Deepcell to continue product development and enable early commercial introduction of a new standard for obtaining biological insights from single cell analysis. Deepcell’s platform combines advances in AI, proprietary microfluidics, high resolution optics, and a growing cell atlas with over 1 billion images to analyze and sort cells based on visual features. This allows researchers to characterize and gain new insights from single cells at levels of resolution previously unseen with other “omics” based tools.
This round of funding was led by Koch Disruptive Technologies and joined by new investors including Bridger Healthcare, Horizons Ventures, Casdin Capital and lead investors from previous rounds, Andreessen Horowitz and Bow Capital as well as Jeff Dean, Head of Google Brain, and Matt Mcllwain, Managing Director at Madrona Venture Group. This Series B financing brings Deepcell’s overall funding to nearly $100 million since the company was founded in 2017.
“The new funding will help us to accelerate our growth, develop our platform, and take a major step toward full commercialization,” said Maddison Masaeli, CEO and Co-founder of Deepcell. “The support we are receiving highlights the potential of Deepcell’s AI-powered single cell morphology analysis, and enables us to expand the team, transition to late-stage development and accelerate towards introducing our platform to a present and growing list of potential customers.”
Unlike other cell analysis approaches, Deepcell’s technology was developed to isolate and collect label-free single cells based on morphology, keeping the cell intact, which is critical for downstream biological characterization. By analyzing whole, unperturbed single cell populations instead of molecular targets on or within cells, Deepcell’s technology gives researchers access to a brand new dimension in cell biology and the ability to understand cellular heterogeneity in rich detail.
“Deepcell is advancing the use of computational methods with our deep learning capabilities to help fulfill the promise of precision medicine,” said Mahyar Salek, President, CTO and Co-founder of Deepcell. “AI can learn to identify cells based on visual differences that are hardly accessible to the human eye and can continually improve, thanks to our capability to sort cells and thereby elicit ground truth at scale. With training on billions of cell images and sorting cells, our AI technology connects morphology to multiomics, delivering unprecedented access to the exciting world of biology.”
“We are thrilled to support Deepcell’s vision as the market leader in single cell morpholomics,” said David Mauney, Managing Director at KDT and new Board member at Deepcell. “The company has clearly demonstrated the ability to provide unique biological insights previously unattained by existing approaches. We look forward to working with the team to expand their product offering and prepare for full commercialization.”
In addition to David Mauney, Blake Goodner and Matt Posard will join Deepcell’s Board of Directors. Mr. Goodner is a founding member of Bridger Management and Advisory Board Member with The Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy, and Mr. Posard is a 30-year life sciences industry veteran and former Senior Vice President of Emerging Markets at Illumina.
