Merieux Developpement and Paladin Capital Group announced the completion of a $55.5 million Series C funding into Inscripta, a leading gene-editing technology company, based in Boulder, CO and Pleasanton, CA. Additional participants include all existing investors: Venrock, Foresite, Spruce, and NanoDimension. The new funding comes on the heels of the company's release of its first CRISPR enzyme (MAD7), and will accelerate Inscripta's development of gene-editing tools, including instruments, reagents, and software, and grow the company's expert team.

"Gene editing is one of the most exciting scientific advancements of this young century, but to realize its full potential, researchers need to have better, more scalable tools to forward engineer proteins, pathways and genomes," said Kevin Ness, CEO of Inscripta. "The past 20 years of genomic advancements have been in the field of genome reading, but we believe that future advancements in biology will be in the applications of genome writing".

Inscripta will use the funding to expand its research capabilities and strengthen its internal team of high-performing research experts. The company has open positions that offer growth opportunities for scientists and engineers in the fields of microfluidics, genomics, cell biology, synthetic biology, and computational biology at locations in Boulder, Colo. and the Bay Area.

At the close of last year, Inscripta introduced its MAD7 enzyme, which is fully available for commercial and academic researchers with no up-front licensing fees or "reach-through royalties" on products made using the technology. This unique approach was the first step in the company's path to re-shape forward genome engineering and make it more accessible for the research community.

Inscripta is unique in building the best set of tools that allow researchers and industrial players to engineer strains and enzymes, while owning the fruits of their results outright. As the company prepares for the next set of breakthroughs and first commercial launch, we are excited to work with a very talented team to accelerate what we consider will be a game changer for the industry," said François Valencony, general manager at Merieux Developpement.

We believe that Inscripta's highly multiplexed, cost efficient, easy to use platform will have a major impact on the future of scientific discovery and across a wide range of applications, including next generation diagnostics, biopharmaceuticals and industrial biotech", said Paul Conley, Managing Director at Paladin.

About Inscripta / http://www.inscripta.com

Inscripta is a gene-editing technology company that puts researchers in control by making it easy for them to get all they need for cutting-edge, forward cell-engineering. These tools include a family of CRISPR enzymes (called MADzymes), custom nucleases for researchers and commercial partners, and a full suite of gene-editing tools (instruments, reagents, and software) that will significantly increase the speed and efficiency of multiplexed, precision gene editing. By removing the barriers to forward cell engineering and gene-editing research, Inscripta will usher in a new era of advances to revolutionize how we feed, fuel, and heal humanity. Inscripta is led by several genomic technology veterans including CEO Kevin Ness, who co-founded QuantaLife and 10x Genomics, and John Stuelpnagel, the chairman of the company's board, who was co-founder and first CEO of Illumina (NYSE: ILMN) and chairman of 10x Genomics. Inscripta is headquartered in Boulder, Colo.; has offices in Pleasanton, Calif.; and is backed by Foresite, Merieux Developpement, NanoDimension, Paladin, Spruce and Venrock.

About Merieux Developpement / http://www.merieux-developpement.com

Merieux Developpement is specialized in venture capital and growth equity transactions within the healthcare and nutrition sectors. Merieux Developpement supports companies with products or services offering substantial differentiation, innovation and capacity to expand at global level. Our investment team, based in Europe and North America, brings its expertise and international network to help entrepreneurs disrupt and seize new business opportunities. Merieux Developpement is an affiliate of Institut Merieux, which employs approximately 17,000 employees worldwide, with consolidated revenues exceeding 2.5 billion Euros in 2016.

About Paladin Capital Group / http://www.paladincapgroup.com

Paladin Capital Group is a multi-stage private equity firm that specializes in helping talented, driven founders to commercialize technologies that address unmet needs in security, public health and resilience of critical infrastructure. The firm currently manages over $1 billion of committed capital and is headquartered in Washington, DC, with teams in New York, Silicon Valley, and London.