Mammoth Biosciences Raises $23 Million Led by Mayfield to Bring World’s First CRISPR-Based Disease Detection Platform To Everyday Life

Mammoth Biosciences, the company behind the world’s first CRISPR-based disease detection platform, today announced $23 million in funding. The financing is led by Mayfield with participation from NFX and 8VC, bringing the company through its Series A. The funds will allow the company to build out its IP portfolio, expand the team, and develop an infrastructure for partners to build on Mammoth’s CRISPR platform, with a keen eye on pharmaceutical and agricultural partnerships.
 
The funding round comes not long after the company came out of stealth in April 2018. The company is co-founded by Stanford and UC Berkeley PhDs Trevor Martin (CEO), Ashley Tehranchi (CTO), Lucas Harrington, Janice Chen and CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna who are working to upend the $45 billion global disease detection market -- starting with healthcare.
 
To do so, the team harnessed the naturally evolved diversity of bacterial CRISPR systems. Using proprietary CRISPR technology licensed exclusively from the University of California, Mammoth aims to democratize disease detection with an easy and affordable point-of-care test that allows fast, simultaneous detection of multiple conditions, in real time, both in the hospital and at home. This pioneering approach has the potential to significantly reduce healthcare spending by replacing the need for dedicated testing devices, while also increasing accessibility and ease-of-use.
 
Similar to how Apple’s iOS created a democratized platform for developers, Mammoth’s long-term vision is to provide a CRISPR-based platform on which Mammoth and partners can build an infinite number of tests, both within healthcare and also across industries such as agriculture, oil and gas, and forensics. Growth of the platform is powered by Mammoth’s CRISPR protein discovery engine -- technology that is poised to explore and uncover additional Cas systems and reveal an infinite number of future applications.
 
“CRISPR is poised to make dramatic innovations in many industries, particularly within healthcare. We see the most immediate impact outside of the lab as a tool for disease detection and biosensing,” explained Trevor Martin, co-founder and CEO of Mammoth Biosciences. “We’ve already made great strides in our mission, and look forward to building out our talented team, connecting with forward-thinking partners, and delivering the power of CRISPR to everyday life.”
 
In addition to furthering the development of its core IP portfolio, Mammoth will use the funds to attract top talent, grow its internal team, and build out the framework and infrastructure of its CRISPR-based platform.

“As a people-first firm focused on early-stage investing, we begin by evaluating if we are good partners to help the founding team achieve their big vision,” said Ursheet Parikh, who led Mayfield’s investment and joins the board. “In Trevor, Ashley, Lucas and Janice, we found a passionate team of experts who are being guided by industry icon Jennifer Doudna. When you combine this dream team with their unique IP, clear business model and the trend toward precision medicine, we are confident that Mammoth will grow into a leading company of the new genomics age.”
 
In tandem, Mammoth welcomes infectious disease expert Charles Chui and protein engineering expert Dave Savage to its growing Scientific Advisory Board, chaired by CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna. As a board-certified consulting infectious diseases physician at UCSF, Dr. Chiu brings major experience in both infectious diseases and clinical microbiology to Mammoth. Dr. Savage, an Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology at UC, Berkeley, adds his expertise in the regulation, evolution, and engineering of microbial metabolism. Drs. Savage and Chui join co-founder and Chair of Mammoth’s Scientific Advisory Board Jennifer Doudna in leading the company’s scientific vision.
 
Mammoth is currently reviewing partnership requests from those interested in building on its CRISPR-based platform, and fielding job applications from those interested in joining its all-star team. To learn more, visit https://mammoth.bio/connect
 
About Mammoth Biosciences:
Mammoth Biosciences is a biotech company that has developed the world’s first and only CRISPR-based detection platform capable of sensing any biomarker or disease with DNA/RNA. The company is co-founded by CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna, Stanford PhDs Trevor Martin and Ashley Tehranchi, and Berkeley PhD students Janice Chen and Lucas Harrington. Mammoth is on a mission to leverage the power of CRISPR to democratize disease detection by bringing accurate and affordable testing out of the laboratory and into the point-of-care. The company’s funding was led by top investors and includes Mayfield, NFX, 8VC, AME Cloud, Wireframe, Kairos, and Boom Capital. For more information visit http://www.mammothbiosci.com/
 
About Mayfield
Mayfield is a global venture capital firm with a people-first philosophy and over $2.7 billion under management. Mayfield invests primarily in early-stage consumer and enterprise companies. Since its founding in 1969, the firm has invested in more than 530 companies, resulting in 116 IPOs and more than 200 mergers or acquisitions. Some notable investments include Amgen, Genentech, Elastica, Gigya, Intuitive Surgical, Lyft, Marketo, Moat, Servicemax, and SolarCity.
 

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