Nalagenetics Announces Series A Funding Of 181 Billion Rupiah

Genetic testing product and service development startup Nalagenetics has announced that it has closed a $12,6 million series A funding round. This round was led by Intudo Ventures and Vulcan Capital, supported by a number of investors including the Diagnostics Development Hub (DxD Hub) through the Agency for Science, Technology and Research's (ASTAR) Accelerate Technologies Pte Ltd, Dexa International, Diagnos Laboratories, East Ventures, AC Ventures, and a number of angel investors -- including one of the platform executives E-commerce local.

Previously they had booked early stage funding in November 2018 then $1 million. Armed with these investment funds, Nalagenetics is aggressively developing comprehensive genetic testing solutions, enabling disease prevention. Through their software and genetic solutions, they empower healthcare professionals to apply predictive and pre-symptomatic testing for the prevention of chronic conditions.

The initial solution that Nalagenetics presented was an affordable genotyping kit and bioinformatics solution for the interpretation of genetic data. Along with its development, they are now also offering a variety of solutions including the creation, implementation, and integration of genetic information in health care systems. With one of the platforms nicknamed "Clinical Decision Support" for health labs.

Beyond software, Nalagenetics' services include wet lab protocols, bioinformatics algorithms, clinical recommendations, and API connections, to empower hospitals and laboratories to run effective genetic testing services.

In addition, Nalagenetics has supported the government and the private sector during the Covid-19 pandemic, increasing testing for patients across Indonesia.

Continue regional expansion

Currently Nalagenetics serves its main market in Indonesia and Singapore. Furthermore, through the fresh funds obtained, the company will continue to expand to Malaysia and a number of other countries this year. The company has also strategically partnered with more than 40 hospitals and health clinics. Apart from expansion, product development will also be the main focus.

Nalagenetics has developing clinical modules for pharmacogenomics, nutrigenomics, and breast cancer risk prediction. It then plans to develop a new module around polygenic risk scores to address complex conditions and the biggest killer in Southeast Asia, which includes cardiometabolic diseases, cancer, and neurodegenerative conditions.

"We are excited to continue advocating the development of cost-effective genetic screening for personalized prescribing and screening for cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, and cancer as the biggest killer in Southeast Asia. As the momentum for genetic testing and adoption of value-based treatments increases, we are seeing a lot of interest from hospitals. and service providers that didn't exist before," said Nalagenetics Co-Founder & CEO Levana Sani.

Significant market growth

According to the data presented, Asia is the fastest growing genetic testing market. However, there is still significant room for growth, as currently up to 80% of all genetic discoveries continue to be found mainly in Caucasian populations.

Founding Partner Intudo Ventures Patrick Yip said, “Local populations need local solutions in overcoming problems related to genetics. Indonesia, and more broadly in Southeast Asia, has long been an underserved market for genetic testing. With solutions tailored to local contexts, Nalagenetics integrates targeted products and services into local healthcare systems to offer genetic testing and analytics services to patients who do not have access to such services."

However, in Indonesia there are not many startups that play in this realm. Most of the need for genetic or other biomedical testing has just been handled by conventional labs – which usually cost more to use the services. Startup Biotech Others who have attended and also received funding from venture capitalists are Nusantics. During the pandemic, one of the innovations they have intensified is the introduction of pocket-friendly Covid-19 testing kits.