Disease Outbreak Prediction Startup Metabiota Has Raised $30 Million in Series A Funding

Disease outbreak prediction startup Metabiota has raised $30 million in Series A funding to help build out its offerings to government organizations and insurers on a global scale.

Growth equity firm Pilot Growth Equity, led this round of funding and is a previous investor in Metabiota as we see there is the potential for this startup to be a multi-billion dollar company.

“Metabiota is digitizing the world’s microbial threats so that governments, insurance companies and corporations in multiple industries can be proactive about fighting disease spread and epidemic risk financing,”Pilot Growth Equity’s John DeLoche said of the decision to re-up financing.

The San Francisco startup uses computer modeling to predict and prevent disease outbreaks in populations throughout the world, including Africa and Asia. It does this by collecting data from various communities and regional clinics to map out where a disease might strike next. Metabiota technology played a role in helping the Sierra Leone government stem Ebola outbreaks in the country.

Government organizations and NGOs, such as the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control, have traditionally gathered information on the ground about outbreaks and then tried to work with various governments on a plan of action. Metabiota is one of the first companies to use a combination of field data and analytics to help governments and insurers stem these epidemics.

While this is technically a Series A, Metabiota notes that it considers this more of a growth round. The new funds will be used to scale the business and continue building into more areas throughout the globe. This means hiring engineers and working with insurers and reinsurers to provide financial tools to governments for epidemic outbreaks.