US

Ginkgo Bioworks hauls in $275 mln Series D

Boston-based Ginkgo Bioworks, an organism company, has raised $275 million in Series D funding. The investors included Viking Global, Y Combinator's Continuity Fund, Cascade Investment and General Atlantic.

Digital health startup Elemeno Health grabs $1.3 mln seed

Oakland, California-based Elemeno Health, a digital health startup, has secured $1.3 million in seed funding. Launchpad Digital Health led the round.

VC-backed Cibiem adds Kucheman to board

Los Altos, California-based Cibiem Inc, a medical device company, has appointed William H. Kucheman to its board of directors. Currently, Kucheman served as director of BioStar Ventures III, a medical device venture capital fund. Cibiem is backed by Third Rock Ventures, SV Health Investors and BioStar Ventures.

VC-backed GRAIL appoints Cook as CEO

Menlo Park, California-based GRAIL Inc, a life sciences company focused on detecting cancer early when it can be cured, has named Jennifer Cook as CEO. Her appointment becomes effective January 2, 2018. Bill Rastetter, the interim CEO since August 2017, will continue as chairman of the board of directors. And GRAIL has added Catherine Friedman and Min Cui to its board of directors. GRAIL's backers include ARCH Venture Partners, Amazon, Bezos Expeditions, Bill Gates, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene, Decheng Capital, GV, Illumina, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Merck, McKesson Ventures, Sutter Hill Ventures, Tencent and Varian Medical Systems.

Relay Therapeutics lands $63 mln Series B

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Relay Therapeutics, a biotech company, has closed $63 million in Series B financing. BVF Partners led the round with participation from GV, Casdin Capital, EcoR1 Capital, Section 32, Third Rock Ventures and Alexandria Venture Investments. In conjunction with the funding, Kanishka Pothula, a managing director at BVF Partners, will join Relay Therapeutics' board of directors.

Kyn Therapeutics inks $49 mln Series A

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Kyn Therapeutics, a provider of new immunometabolism therapies for treating cancer, has secured $49 million in Series A funding. The investors were Atlas Venture and OrbiMed.

Round13 Capital’s John Eckert joins Bluerush’s board

Bluerush Media Group Corp announced the appointment of John Eckert, co-founder of Canadian venture capital firm Round13 Capital, to the company’s board of directors. The appointment follows Round13’s investment in Bluerush’s $1.3 million private offering in October. Eckert, a co-founder and former managing partner of McLean Watson Capital, helped launch Round13 in 2012. Earlier this year, the firm raised $95 million for its growth-stage technology fund. Bluerush, a Toronto-based digital solutions provider, also said it appointed Steve Taylor as CEO.

Instana nabs $20 mln Series B

Instana, a San Mateo, California-based platform that monitors and manages complex big data and microservices, has raised $20 million in Series B funding. Accel led the round with participation from return backer Target Partners.

Felix Capital adds EIR, associate

London-based venture firm Felix Capital, which raised $150 million for its second fund in the summer, announced it has added its first entrepreneur-in-residence and associate to the team. Joining as EIR is George Pallis who came over from Deliveroo, where he led global marketing, and before that was with Transferwise. Felix said Pallis will provide feedback on investment opportunities through his operator eye, especially on the consumer side. Joining as associate is Emilie Spire, who started in venture as an associate with Partech Ventures in Paris before moving to Blablacar in a corporate development and then operational role. Felix said Spire will spend time in France and work very closely with all of the team on deal sourcing,

INSIKT garners $50 mln Series D

INSIKT, a white label lender to underbanked families, has raised $50 million in Series D funding. Grupo Coppel led the round.