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§ Private Profile · South San Francisco, CA, USA
Genetic testing company providing carrier screening and non-invasive prenatal screening for prospective parents, focused on women's health.
Counsyl has raised $309.0M across 6 funding rounds.
Key people at Counsyl.
Counsyl was founded in 2008 by Balaji Srinivasan (Cofounder and CTO).
Counsyl has raised $309.0M in total across 6 funding rounds.
Counsyl is a Redwood City, California-based biotechnology company that develops and provides clinical genetic screening tests and professional counseling services for prospective parents. The enterprise specializes in carrier screening for heritable diseases and non-invasive prenatal testing, processing patient saliva samples to identify risks for over 100 genetic disorders like cystic fibrosis. Prior to its acquisition, the business generated over $134 million in annual revenue and performed more than 280,000 reproductive genetic tests across more than 200 domestic medical clinics during a single year. The molecular diagnostic company raised approximately $93 million in total venture funding from institutional backers including Founders Fund, Felicis Ventures, and Goldman Sachs before being acquired by Myriad Genetics for $375 million in May 2018. Counsyl was founded in 2007 by Ramji Srinivasan, Balaji S. Srinivasan, Eric A. Evans, and Rishi Kacker.
Key people at Counsyl.
Counsyl was a health technology company specializing in genetic screening and DNA testing services for men, women, and families, primarily focused on preconception, pregnancy, and inherited cancer risks.[1][2][3] It built products like the Family Prep Screen (detecting over 100 recessive conditions passable to children), Informed Pregnancy Screen (for chromosomal issues like Down syndrome), and Inherited Cancer Screen (analyzing 20 cancer-risk genes), served healthcare professionals and patients via its CLIA-certified lab, and solved the problem of inaccessible, expensive genetic testing by using automation for faster, cheaper, more accurate results—screening over 500,000 patients by 2015.[2][3][5] Counsyl raised $93 million from investors including Goldman Sachs, Founders Fund, and Felicis Ventures, achieving strong growth momentum with milestones like 500,000 patients and awards before its 2018 acquisition by Myriad Genetics, after which it integrated into Myriad Women's Health.[1][2][6][7]
Counsyl was co-founded in 2007 by Ramji Srinivasan (CEO), Eric Evans (Chief Scientist), and Rishi Kacker (VP Products), engineers and scientists who aimed to reimagine clinical labs through technology.[2][3] The idea emerged from recognizing genetics' potential in modern medicine—post-human genome project—to identify recessive conditions like cystic fibrosis or Tay-Sachs via affordable saliva-based tests, avoiding costly treatments by enabling prevention.[5] Early traction came from building a scalable platform with custom automation, serving 8,000+ healthcare pros, hitting 500,000 screenings, and winning the 2015 World Technology Award for Health and Medicine, validating their high-tech, high-touch model.[2]
Counsyl rode the post-genome sequencing boom in personalized medicine and preventive genomics, capitalizing on falling DNA analysis costs to democratize screening amid rising demand for family planning and hereditary disease prevention.[2][5] Timing was ideal in the 2010s as fertility tech and consumer genetics exploded (e.g., 23andMe parallels), with market forces like insurance adoption and CLIA regulations favoring scalable labs over fragmented testing.[1][5] It influenced the ecosystem by pioneering automated clinical labs, lowering barriers for 8,000+ providers, accelerating mainstream genetic counseling, and paving the way for acquisitions like Myriad's, which expanded hereditary risk testing industry-wide.[6][7]
Post-2018 acquisition, Counsyl's platform lives on within Myriad Women's Health (under Myriad Genetics), likely enhancing integrated genetic services amid booming demand for AI-driven genomics and expanded cancer/prenatal panels.[6][7] Trends like multi-omic testing, insurer mandates, and direct-to-consumer evolution will shape it, potentially amplifying influence through Myriad's scale—evolving from startup disruptor to cornerstone of accessible reproductive health tech. This trajectory underscores Counsyl's lasting impact: turning genomic data into confident family choices.[2][6]
Counsyl has raised $309.0M across 6 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $80.0M Other Equity in November 2017.
Counsyl was founded in 2008 by Balaji Srinivasan (Cofounder and CTO).
Counsyl has raised $309.0M in total across 6 funding rounds.
Counsyl's investors include Sam Chawla, Perceptive Advisors, Atomico, Conviction Partners, Crossover, Felicis Ventures, Forerunner Ventures, Jeff Immelt, Vanessa Larco, Next Play Ventures, Transformation Capital, Aaron Levie.
