Ancera, Inc., the leader in microbial risk assessment, has raised $8.9 million in Series A financing to commercialize its single-cell transport technology. Ancera's patented MagDrive technology analyzes contamination in food sources in near real-time enabling rapid, straightforward detection and quantification of microbial threats. Glass Capital, an existing investor in Ancera, led the funding round with participation from Packers Sanitation Services (PSSI), a leader of cleaning and sanitation services for the food industry and Metabiota, the pioneer in epidemic risk analytics. With this round, Ancera has raised a total of $12.3 million.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that every year, one in six Americans become sick as a result of a foodborne illness. Ancera is positioned to play a critical role in planning and monitoring a hierarchy of control measures that provide companies with deeper clarity and actionable outcomes in food production. The company's Piper platform was developed to provide near real-time identification of contamination and quantification of microbial load across all points in the food production process, from farm to consumer. Ancera's groundbreaking MagDrive technology powers the Piper platform by rapidly manipulating, sorting and enumerating viable pathogens directly from complex food samples, such as produce and poultry.
By integrating its powerful technology with Metabiota and PSSI, Ancera can now deliver intelligent insights into assessing pathogen risk for the food industry. The joint offering provides decision support capabilities to assess supply chain risk, allowing companies to make evidence-based decisions and improve end-product quality and safety for consumers.
'Ancera and Metabiota are a natural fit, as we are both committed to leveraging data to decrease pathogen risk in food systems and reduce the threat of a foodborne disease outbreak,' said Robert Mann, president and COO of Metabiota. 'We are so confident in this platform that we are partnering with Ancera to help food companies easily identify and quantify pathogens in their supply chains, which will ultimately help protect global health.'
'With this funding and our new collaborations, Ancera is truly positioned to shift the status quo in the food industry,' said Arjun Ganesan, co-founder and CEO of Ancera. 'Our ability to rapidly deliver microbial risk information will help the food industry continue to improve the safety and quality of its products through every stage of the production process.'
Ancera will use the new funds to continue building its impressive team, while ramping up commercial operations for its product launch in early 2017.
About Ancera
Branford, CT-based Ancera was founded in 2012 and is built on MagDrive technology developed at Yale University. The Company's core platform, Piper, enables interactive biology through integrated sorting microscopy, enumeration, assaying and recovery of microbial and non-microbial cells directly from complex samples. For more information, visit the company's website at http://www.ancera.com
About Glass Capital Management
Glass Capital Management is a family investment office that focuses on early stage venture, real-estate and other alternative investments. Glass Capital helps entrepreneurs with capital and structure to build next generation companies while navigating complex markets.
About PSSI
PSSI is North America's largest nationwide provider of mission-critical outsourced cleaning and sanitation services to the growing food processing industry. PSSI has been the market leader in North America for nearly 40 years and has established long-term relationships with the nation's leading food processors throughout approximately 470 served locations. For more information, visit the company's website at http://www.pssi.co
About Metabiota
Metabiota is the pioneer in comprehensive risk analytics that help protect global health. Built on a strong foundation of scientific expertise, including a worldwide network of on-the-ground experts, Metabiota delivers actionable, data-driven analytics to help countries and corporations mitigate complex health issues. With a strategic global presence and sustained partnerships, Metabiota's agile approach helps identify, analyze and transfer the risk associated with biological threats. The company's international footprint includes operations in 30 countries with offices in San Francisco, Washington, West and Central Africa, China and Southeast Asia. For more information, visit http://www.metabiota.com.