Tasso intends to use the proceeds from the funding to scale manufacturing of its advanced Tasso OnDemand devices
Tasso OnDemand at-home, self-sampling blood collection device. (Credit: Business Wire.)
Tasso, a blood-based diagnostics firm, has closed a Series A funding round, led by Hambrecht Ducera Growth Ventures, at $17m to scale production of its at-home blood collection systems.
Investors including Foresite Capital, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, Vertical Venture Partners, Techstars, and Cedars-Sinai also participated in the Series A financing round.
The round takes the total funding raised by Tasso to $38.6m from grants, private investments, and co-development collaborations.
Under the terms of the transaction, Hambrecht Ducera Growth Ventures partner Elizabeth Hambrecht has been appointed as member of the Tasso Board of Directors.
Hambrecht said: “With its talented team and proven technology platform, Tasso is poised to transform the traditional, painful, in-person blood draw process, which has been the standard of care for the past six decades.
“Tasso continues to consistently exceed our expectations with all of its co-development collaborations, even amid these unprecedented market challenges. We look forward to supporting the Tasso team on its journey to realizing the full potential of its platform.”
Tasso will use the funding proceeds to scale manufacturing of Tasso OnDemand devices
Tasso intends to use the proceeds from the funding to scale manufacturing of its advanced Tasso OnDemand devices, helping people collect their own blood in their home, without needing any prior training, in a painless process.
The company said that the products are currently being validated for a variety of applications, including routine diagnostics, chronic disease monitoring, infectious disease surveillance, athletic and sports testing, virtual clinical trials, global health, and healthcare for under-served populations.
Furthermore, Tasso claimed that its products have been adopted by many academic medical institutions, government agencies, comprehensive cancer centers, and pharmaceutical organizations around the world.
Tasso CEO and co-founder Ben Casavant said: “The coronavirus pandemic has underscored the surging demand for more diagnostic solutions that are patient-friendly and can be deployed easily at home.
“The Tasso OnDemand devices are enabling people to be tested for Covid-19 and many other routine diagnostic applications, from anywhere at any time. This funding round is a strong validation of our approach and will allow us to build on our recent successes and enhance the platform with new value-added services in the future.”