5Y News | Axbio Closes Nearly $100M Series B Funding Round

Fourth-generation sequencing company Axbio recently announced the completion of a nearly $100 million Series B funding round. This marks the company's second capital raise following its Series A+ round in October 2021, bringing its cumulative funding to over $100 million. The round was co-led by AstraZeneca CICC Healthcare Industry Fund and Yunfeng Capital, with participation from CBC Group, SDIC Fortune Investment, and 5Y Capital.

The proceeds will be used to further optimize Axbio's sequencing technology, build sequencing instrument production facilities, and expand commercialization efforts — accelerating the iteration of its fourth-generation sequencing technology and its path to industrialization. The goal is to bring lower-cost, more efficient, and accessible long-read sequencing products to more end users, while advancing the life sciences and healthcare industries. 5Y Capital led Axbio's Series A+ round in October 2021.

A partner at 5Y Capital said: "In recent years, we've been excited to see new application scenarios emerging across the life sciences, from gene therapy and cell therapy to synthetic biology — all with enormous potential for future R&D and commercialization. Behind all of these lies an enduring demand for sequencing tools that deliver long reads, high accuracy, and low cost. New sequencing platforms that can consistently meet these criteria will become the most critical infrastructure for next-generation life science technology. Axbio has integrated chip technology, computation, and synthetic biology to validate an entirely new sequencing methodology capable of breaking through on cost, throughput, read length, and accuracy simultaneously. We look forward to seeing Axbio contribute to advancing R&D efficiency across the life sciences industry."

Dr. Hui Tian, founder of Axbio, said: "Our international, interdisciplinary team aims to break through the bottlenecks constraining the sequencing industry through continuous innovation. Our independently developed fourth-generation sequencer, built on large-scale integrated circuits and cutting-edge biotechnology, combines low cost, miniaturization, high accuracy, and long read lengths — enabling repeated sequencing of individual bases at the single-molecule level, with broad application prospects in both research and clinical settings. Axbio's first medical device GMP production base will also be completed and begin trial production within 2022. This renewed investment from multiple renowned institutions represents recognition and trust in our team and products, and also means Axbio will take on greater responsibility and face higher challenges. We will continue working hard to accelerate the vision of upgrading the sequencing industry and making low-cost sequencing universally accessible."

Axbio Fourth-Generation Gene Sequencer (36cm x 23cm x 14cm)

To make sequencing cheaper, with longer reads, higher accuracy, and faster detection, Axbio has developed nanoscale Bio-CMOS chips using large-scale integrated circuits and microfluidics technology. This chip is now successfully deployed in Axbio's fourth-generation sequencer: its novel design and manufacturing process, combined with the high-throughput characteristic of over one million channels per chip, have driven dramatic cost reductions in both chip and sequencing expenses. Moreover, Axbio's proprietary microfluidic Bio-CMOS chip technology offers strong application extensibility — with technical extensions into multi-omics detection. This innovative and fully self-controlled technical system is key to Axbio's long-term vitality and core competitiveness.

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