Date: Apr 14, 2015 Source: genomeweb.com (
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NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) -- Illumina said today that it would invest $100 million in a new venture capital firm, Illumina Venture.
Nicholas Naclerio, formerly Illumina's senior vice president of corporate and venture development, is launching the investment firm.
Illumina will be the majority limited partner in the first fund and its $100 million investment will be callable over 10 years.
The investment firm will be independently managed and plans to invest in early-stage companies focused on new applications of nucleic acid sequencing, genomics product development, and using genomics to improve health.
In a statement, Illumina Chairman and CEO Jay Flatley said that internal venture investing has provided Illumina "strategic insight and connections to key technologies and channels in our industry," and that participating in an independent fund is "an even more effective way for us to utilize Illumina's capital to create incremental shareholder value."
Two years ago, Illumina launched a business accelerator program intended to help startups and early-stage companies working on next-generation sequencing applications. It made a second round of investments in genomics start-up companies through that program last August.
