StoryFunding
Ultima Genomics emerges from stealth with $600M Series A and announces the $100 genome with open-wafer sequencing
Ultima Genomics announced its first commercial sequencer, the UG 100, and emerged from stealth with $600M in Series A funding led by General Atlantic and Andreessen Horowitz. The company's platform uses open silicon wafers instead of flow cells and isothermal chemistry instead of thermal cycling, delivering genome sequencing for $100 compared with $500–600 for existing systems.
- $600M Series A from investors including General Atlantic, A16z, D1 Capital, Khosla Ventures, Lightspeed, and Founders Fund
- UG 100 sequencer produces 2.4 terabases per wafer at $1.00 per gigabase (Illumina costs ~5–10x more per base)
- Machine can process up to 20,000 human genomes per year; dual-wafer runs reach 4.8 TB per run
- Founded by Gilad Almogy, formerly head of the display group at Applied Materials; company is based in Fremont, California