Zetta Genomics celebrates boost for XetaBase with £1.9m second round secured

Zetta Genomics, the fast-scaling genomic data technology company, has secured £1.9million in a second seed funding round.

For this round, lead investor Nina Capital has been joined by APEX Ventures and Cambridge Enterprise, the innovation arm of the University of Cambridge.

The successful close demonstrates ongoing confidence in Zetta and its transformational XetaBase platform – to unlock the improved research, medical and healthcare outcomes of genomics at scale.

Founded in 2017, Zetta is a spin-out from the University of Cambridge and Genomics England with a focus on genomic, big data and start-up expertise “to deliver data management fit for the precision medicine era”. Headquartered at Ravenscroft House on Regent Street, Zetta also has a base in Valencia, Spain.

The company’s XetaBase genomic data management platform simplifies tertiary genomic data analysis – aggregating, indexing and enriching secondary data at scale and speed – to accelerate discovery, diagnosis and the delivery of genomic medicine.

The latest investment accelerates momentum and builds on Zetta’s £2.5m first seed round secured in February 2022. In just 13 months, the company has grown the team from five to 30, expanded genomes under management to over 120,000, progressed towards CA, CE and ISO 20000-1 certification, and built out strategic partnerships with industry leaders including Microsoft, Fujitsu and Syneos.

Mark Bailey, Zetta Genomics’ CEO, said: “Today’s seed funding exceeded our initial ask, showing the excitement building around Zetta Genomics’ game-changing XetaBase data analytics platform. We now have the strategic headroom to configure for growth – to scale our technologies, enhance customer focus, and create a cycle of ongoing product innovation.

“This investment sees us one step closer to realising predictive, precision genomics – transforming research, healthcare and the lives of millions.”

Dr Elaine Loukes, investment director at Cambridge University, said: “Cambridge Enterprise is committed to developing and investing in high-impact technologies emerging from the University of Cambridge.

“It was apparent from our early meetings with the founder, Ignacio Medina, that Zetta Genomics was developing not only a high-impact technology, but a paradigm-shifting one.

“By helping to enable the era of genomic medicine, we believe the Zetta platform has the potential to improve health outcomes for millions of people around the world in the next few years. We are delighted to see the strong progress the company has made and very much look forward to continuing to support them.”