Tasso OnDemand would allow at-home blood collection. (Image from Tasso)
Blood-collection startup Tasso said it has completed a $6.1 million financing round led by Vertical Venture Partners (VVP), with participation from Techstars and Cedars-Sinai. The funding will help Tasso scale its first product, Tasso OnDemand, which enables self-collection of blood samples, and to add personnel to support commercial growth.
Tasso OnDemand allows people to collect blood at home and mail the samples to the laboratory for analysis. The Seattle-based company said its inaugural product may transform how patients engage with blood testing, optimizing drug efficacy, safety, and adherence, as well as enabling frequent data on vital blood markers for drug development and care management.
“We are excited to back the exceptional team at Tasso,” said Brad Corona, a partner at VVP, in a prepared statement. “The company is exciting because it has visibility on near-term commercial opportunities with pharmaceutical and lab partners, as well as long-term potential to change the front-end collection for virtually all diagnostics. Blood collection hasn’t changed in decades, and judging from the strong early interest from commercial partners, it’s time.”
Seattle-based Tasso previously raised $13.1 million in grants from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects and Defense Threat Reduction agencies and the National Institutes of Health. The company said it expects to launch Tasso OnDemand in the second quarter of 2019.
