Helix OpCo LLC said it closed the first tranche of a $200 million series B financing round.
Helix is a San Carlos, Calif.-based personal genomics company that developed an online marketplace for DNA-powered products. Personal genomics is the branch of genomics that deals with sequencing, analysis and interpretation of the genome.
The financing was led by venture capital firm DFJ Growth and participated in by all of Helix's founding investors including Illumina Inc., Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, Mayo Clinic, Sutter Hill Ventures and Warburg Pincus.
In connection with the transaction, Barry Schuler will join Helix's board. Schuler is a partner at DFJ Growth and the former chairman and CEO of America Online.
The company will use the funds raised to further expand its online marketplace to help accelerate consumer adoption of genomics.
"Of the estimated 12 million people who have purchased a consumer genomics service to date, more than seven million did so for the first-time in 2017. We are clearly at an inflection point in personal genomics and Helix is well-positioned to take advantage of this growth," Illumina Executive Chairman Jay Flatley said in a statement.
