Venture

The Crunchbase News Briefing: Thurs., Sept. 17

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Here’s what you need to know today in startup and venture news, updated by the Crunchbase News staff throughout the day to keep you in the know.

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Illumina eyes $8B Grail acquisition

Genetic sequencing giant Illumina is reportedly in talks to acquire Grail, the heavily funded cancer diagnostics startup it spun off in 2016, in a deal that could be valued at around $8 billion.

News of the potential purchase comes just a week after Grail filed to go public in what has been touted as one of the largest venture-funded biotech offerings in recent years.

Prior to the IPO filing, Grail had raised at least $2 billion in known funding from a long list of venture and strategic backers, including Illumina, Bill Gates and ARCH Venture Partners.

Menlo Park, California-based Grail is focused on pioneering new technologies for early cancer detection. Its best-known offering is a multi-cancer early-detection blood test that detects more than 50 types of cancer from a single blood draw.

Funding rounds

Other News

More SPACs hitting the market: Two new and very large blank check acquisition companies are hitting the market with plans for a future acquisition. VG Acquisition Corp., a blank check company formed by Virgin Group, filed on Wednesday with the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission to raise up to $400 million in an initial public offering. The same day, Apollo Strategic Growth Capital, a blank check company formed by private equity firm Apollo, filed to raise up to $750 million in an IPO.

 

 

 

 

Illustration: Dom Guzman

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