Clear Labs announced a $6.5M Series A financing round with Khosla Ventures, HBR Genomics, Passport Capital and Felicis Ventures last week.
With the financing, it plans to expand technical and product roles and begin rolling out its technology to pilot customers in a private beta.
Genomic analysis and analytics
The firm merges clinical-grade genomic analysis and big data analytics allowing food brands to gain transparency into their supply chains.
Clear Labs is rolling out its first product, Clear View, into private beta. It analyzes the molecular contents of foods and ingredients, providing data analytics and reporting.
The food analytics platform is built on a next-generation genomic sequencing workflow, a big data platform, and what the firm claims is the world’s largest molecular food database.
A database, built in-house over the last 18 months, compares food samples with genomic markers and other metadata to analyze products against their label.
It tests for ingredient accuracy including authenticity, GMOs, bacterial contamination, allergens and nutritional data and off-label additives.
Move from food safety to quality
Sasan Amini, Clear Labs CEO and co-founder said more than ever, consumers want to better understand what they are eating.
“For the first time, the food industry can test for complete content accuracy, not just spot-check for contamination.
“By allowing brands to capitalize on the advances in big data and genomics, we’re moving beyond food safety, which is largely reactive, and into food quality, which is wholly proactive.”
The company said it is expanding the types of foods that can be analyzed, to include packaged goods that couldn’t previously be tested.
Samir Kaul, founding general partner at Khosla Ventures, said: “The food industry is at a turning point. The market is ready and waiting for new technologies that will transform how they do business.”
Clear Labs was founded by a group of big-data scientists, genomic-analysis and food industry experts with experience from Illumina and Bina Technologies.