Dentsu Inc. Ventures, the venture fund managed by Dentsu Inc., has invested in Grail, Inc., a U.S. company developing blood testing methods for early cancer detection.
The text of the Dentsu Inc. news release distributed on June 13 is as follows.
June 13, 2017
Dentsu Inc. Ventures, the venture fund managed by Dentsu Inc., invests in US company Grail, Inc., which develops blood testing methods for early cancer detection
Dentsu Ventures 1 Global Fund (hereinafter "Dentsu Ventures"), a corporate venture capital fund managed by Dentsu Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: Toshihiro Yamamoto), has invested in Grail, Inc. (Headquarters: Menlo Park; CEO: Jeff Huber; hereinafter "Grail"), a U.S. company developing blood testing methods for early cancer detection.
Grail, Inc. is a life sciences company with a mission to detect cancer early. It is developing and validating a blood test to detect cancer at an early, treatable stage, leveraging its proprietary sequencing technology, large-scale clinical trials, and cutting-edge computer science and data science. The company raised over $900 million in its Series B funding round to support this effort.
Dentsu Inc. participated in the Series B funding round and plans to support Grail's partnership strategy in Japan. By facilitating alliances with our group's clients and partner companies, we aim to accelerate the practical application of Grail's technology within Japan. Furthermore, we aspire to contribute to the future expansion of early cancer detection testing and improve screening rates.
Dentsu Inc. Ventures is a fund established in April 2015 to realize open innovation within the Dentsu Group through investment in and collaboration with startups. To strengthen its activities, the fund's total size has been increased from 5 billion yen to 10 billion yen. While continuing global investments, we plan to strengthen investments in the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan, and Europe. We will also expand our team to further enhance support for portfolio companies and our joint business development capabilities with them.
Overviews of Grail and Dentsu Inc. Ventures are as follows.
<Grail, Inc. Overview>
Company Name: Grail, Inc.
Headquarters: Menlo Park, California, USA
Representative: Jeff Huber (CEO)
Business Description: Development of blood-based testing methods for early cancer detection
URL:https://grail.com/
<OVERVIEW of Dentsu Ventures>
Name: Dentsu Ventures Global Fund I
Fund Size: ¥10 billion
Fund Formation Date: April 2015
Operation Period: Planned for 10 years until March 2025
Investment Regions: Global investments including the U.S., Europe, Japan, and Asia
Investment Stage: Primarily seed/early stage, while also including mid/late stage for a broad, balanced investment approach
Investment Areas:
(1) Areas with the potential to transform the broader marketing/communications business
(2) Innovative, high-potential new domains, even if not fitting the above
URL:http://dentsu-v.com/
End
Dentsu Inc. News Release
http://www.dentsu.co.jp/news/release/2017/0613-009315.html
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