Ghanaian cancer research and diagnostic Yemaachi Biotech has announced raising $3 million in a seed round led by V8 Capital to further its aim of global precision oncology diversification.
The round saw the participation of LifeLine Family Heritage Fund, Y Combinator, Tencent, LoftyInc Capital, VestedWorld, V Square Capital, and Ethan Perlstein.
Yemaachi Biotech was founded in 2020 by Yaw Bediako, David Hutchful, Joyce Ngoi, and Yaw Attua-Afari. With a dedication to accelerating precision oncology in Africa and beyond, Yemaachi has developed a first-of-its-kind pan-African genomic and clinical knowledge base and research platform, which, when combined with deep clinical partnerships across Africa, provides the foundation for innovative products and partnerships to advance new molecular diagnostics and therapeutic targets.
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The co-founder and CEO of Yemaachi, Yaw Bediako, said — “We’ve only begun to scratch the surface of genomic data and understanding. We know genetic outcomes are context-dependent, including within the genome. Creating a dataset with the greatest genomic diversity can enable rapid discoveries that have long-term implications for cancer research, drug development, and patient care, not just in Africa but also globally.”
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“Combined with Yemaachi’s expertise in immunogenomics, bioinformatics, and deep learning, the company’s expansive datasets can be a force multiplier for rapidly accelerating advancements in oncology,” he added.
Last year, Yemaachi was one of 15 African companies to be selected for the S21 batch of the Y Combinator accelerator and has now followed that with a US$3 million seed round. Yemaachi was also recently named a beneficiary of a $1 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Calestous Juma Science Leadership Fellowship, awarded to Bediako. The fellowship is done to support scientists attempting to find breakthroughs in critical global health issues.
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Commenting on the seed round investment, Tobi Oke, managing partner at V8 Capital Partners, said — “The breadth of expertise of Yemaachi’s highly talented founding team, the clinical partnerships they have already formed, and their focus on leveraging the vast untapped resource of African genetic diversity to discover the next generation of cancer diagnostics and therapeutics makes them a stimulating and valuable investment for us.”
About Yemaachi Biotech
Yemaachi is a cancer research and diagnostic company using cutting-edge immunogenomics, bioinformatics, and artificial intelligence to accelerate the development of cancer detection and cure strategies that have high efficacy regardless of ethnicity.
The company is diversifying and expanding access to precision cancer diagnostics and therapeutics by collecting and sequencing samples from all across Africa and using the data to optimize existing diagnostic tests or discover new ones. With research activities based in Africa, Yemaachi is able to leverage access to the most genetically diverse population on the planet to build a first-of-its-kind clinical and molecular knowledge base on cancer.