Human Longevity Inc. raced to a billion-dollar plus valuation on the hopes that it could apply advances in genomics to improve medicine. A drastic “down round” financing this week suggests investors have questions about its own longevity. The funding round values the company—co-founded by genomics pioneer J. Craig Venter in 2014—at around $310 million, according to a Human Longevity regulatory filing obtained by Lagniappe Labs LLC, whose Prime Unicorn Index tracks valuations of privately held companies. That marks an 80% decline...
Genomics start-up Human Longevity has seen a further fall in its valuation, with its latest funding round putting its value at $310m, a fall of 80% from its estimated $1.6bn valuation in 2017. The company seeks to pull in $25m via a rights offering to existing shareholders, in a funding “down round” that aims to secure short-term financing. The company’s valuation soared in early 2017 as it looked set to take advantage of genomics advances to fuel improvements in medicine, yet it did not make the progress it expected.