Molbio Diagnostics, a Molecular Diagnostic chain, has raised $85 million in a funding round led by Singapore-based Temasek. The Goa-based firm has now received its first tranche from the Singapore-based investor, V Sciences Investments, at a unicorn valuation. Molbio enables precise, rapid, and cost-effective molecular diagnosis at the point of care.
Molbio’s board of directors approved a special resolution to issue 7,340 equity shares to V Sciences Investments (a Temasek investment arm) at an issue price of INR 54,495.91 per share to raise INR 40 crore ($4.9 million). The remainder of the funds is expected to arrive soon.
The funds will help Molbio develop near-care technologies that address clinic need gaps and expand its proprietary platform globally. Molbio will become India’s 108th unicorn.
“The demand for high-quality, point-of-care molecular diagnostic systems is higher than ever today. The strategic partnership with Temasek will strengthen our ability to provide sustainable choices to address global healthcare challenges,” said Sriram Natarajan, CEO of Molbio.
The startup is known for its molecular diagnostic testing platform
Truelab, a Real-Time quantitative micro PCR system from Molbio Diagnostics, brings PCR technology to the point-of-care, at all laboratory and non-laboratory settings, primary care, in the field, near-patient, and essentially at all levels of healthcare, thereby decentralizing and democratizing access to molecular diagnostics. The platform is infrastructure-independent and offers a complete end-to-end disease diagnosis solution.
Truenat offers real-time IoT-enabled testing kits for over 40 diseases, including COVID-19, hepatitis, HIV, HPV, and vector-borne diseases such as dengue, chikungunya, malaria, to TB. In March, the Indian government deployed Molbio Diagnostics’ Truenat platform as a frontline tool in the special door-to-door tuberculosis (TB) screening initiative.
Truenat real-time PCR, according to Molbio, has been deployed in over 5,000 testing centers in over 40 countries worldwide. The promoters own 86.11 percent of the company, while institutional investors own only 13.89 percent of the capital before the unicorn round.
Molbio’s goal is to become a billion-dollar revenue company in the next 3-5 years by selling surveillance platforms for various diseases worldwide.
