BOSTON, MASS, Dec. 16, 2020 — Ovation.io, a next-generation clinical informatics company, today announced it raised $21.5 million in Series B funding led by SignalFire with participation from Madrona Venture Group, Borealis Ventures, StageDotO and industry veteran David Shaw. Ovation’s suite of software and data products make it easier for molecular diagnostic labs to bring innovative tests to the patients that need them, while connecting life science researchers with the insights required to discover life-changing therapies faster.
The investment comes at a time when laboratories are under pressure to adopt increasingly complex and diverse diagnostic tests to better support the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases — a trend that has only become more exposed as the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a surge in demand for specialized testing. At the same time, clinical and genomic data derived from these new diagnostics hold the key to dramatically improved patient outcomes by accelerating therapeutic development and commercialization.
“Delivering on the promise of better, more personalized healthcare requires clinical laboratories to quickly adapt and bring on new diagnostic tests,” said Barry Wark, CEO of Ovation. “Our software gives labs agility to respond to a rapidly changing diagnostic environment, while providing life-science companies new insights to advance discovery and get novel therapies to market faster.”
Developed by scientists to help laboratories accelerate adoption of molecular diagnostics, Ovation is a turn-key, cloud-based platform with configurable, out-of-the-box workflows for molecular tests and seamless integrations to support the needs of a rapidly growing lab. With this latest round of funding, Ovation will work with its network of participating labs to develop insights that can help life-science companies reduce the time and cost associated with biomarker discovery — a critical component of drug development.
In biomarker discovery, drug companies identify biological indicators of a disease (for example, a gene mutation in the case of some cancers) that can help identify target patient populations for trials of new therapeutics. It’s a time-consuming process that can cost millions of dollars to complete – and one that Ovation aims to disrupt.
Results from early customer testing indicate that Ovation can reduce the time and cost of biomarker discovery by as much as 80%. The company plans to formally launch the first of these solutions early next year.
“Genomics is enhancing the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of many human diseases, but it requires an enormous amount of data that’s time-consuming to collect.” said Carlos Bustamante, Professor of Biomedical Data Science and Genetics at Stanford University. “With data from Ovation’s lab network, we can accelerate what’s traditionally a multi-year genomic biomarker project into just months.”
“I struggle to think of anyone whose family hasn’t been deeply impacted by a disease like cancer, diabetes or even more recently, COVID-19.” said Chris Scoggins, Venture Partner at SignalFire, “Ovation has created a platform that provides labs an agile and scalable approach to adopt complex testing, while connecting life-science entities with insights that can accelerate the delivery of better, more personalized medicine. Our investment is a testament to our belief in the company’s leadership, vision, and technology.”
For more information on Ovation, visit www.ovation.io
About Ovation
Ovation is a scientific data company providing a cloud-based laboratory information system for Clinical Diagnostics that focuses on helping laboratories rapidly adopt new and complex molecular diagnostics. Beyond standard sample and workflow tracking, Ovation is reimagining the central role a LIMS or LIS plays in the overall ecosystem of a clinical diagnostics laboratory. Using a modern infrastructure with seamless integrations of best-in-class partners and consultants, Ovation provides labs with an out-of-the box laboratory management experience that scales with each individual lab’s needs. Ovation’s flagship product, Ovation Diagnostic, is the central component of this rapidly expanding laboratory commercialization platform. More information at www.ovation.io. Follow us on Twitter @ovation_io.
About SignalFire
SignalFire is the first venture capital firm structured like a technology company. We take a hybrid human + technology approach to investing and are composed of a team of world-class investors and engineers building tools and infrastructure to help with the most common founder pain points – recruiting, business development, and customer acquisition. In addition, our distributed network of 75+ advisors gives founders access to some of the world’s best entrepreneurs, product minds, and engineering leaders in virtually every key discipline and industry.
