/Companies

Volta Labs, Inc.

YC W19

Boston, US · Founded 2018 · Delaware corporation · 50 employees · Hiring · 13 known investors

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Volta develops a hardware and software platform for genomics sample preparation that automates the extraction of biological information. The company serves researchers, laboratories, and healthcare organizations working in genomics, disease control, forensic science, and medicine.

Also known as Volta Labs Inc.

Founders & leadership· Y Combinator alumni (W19)

Volta Labs, Inc. was founded in 2018 by Udayan Umapathi.

UUUdayan Umapathi
Udayan UmapathiFounder and CEOHe has over five years of experience in company creation and scaling, with background knowledge spanning engineering, design, and biology.
AD
Aisling DouglasBusiness Operations Lead
AM
Ally MillerSenior Ops Associate
LH
Lizzie HickeySenior TA partner
YR
Yoel RoznitskyHead of Operations
MC
Mike CostaHead of Electrical \u0026 Software Engineering
PS
Patrick Shin
MS
Magali SoumillonSenior Directorformer
WL
Will LangfordProduct Engineerformer

Board

NLNatan Linder
Natan LinderMember Board Of DirectorsFounder at Tulip
DS
David SingerBoard director
ML
Maxim LobovskyBoard director

Investors · 13

Mana Ventureslisted by Mana VenturesEstero

How we know: Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us

Rising Tidelisted by Rising TidePacifica

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The E14 Fundlisted by The E14 FundCambridge · $1M – $5M

How we know: The E14 Fund's portfolio page · the VCSheet dataset · Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us

Paul McEwanreportedBoulder

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Venture Investment AssociatesreportedPeapack

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Village GlobalreportedCovina · $500K – $3M

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Reported raises · per SEC filings

Form D private placements

$37.7M disclosed across 2 rounds · 2022–2023

▶$12.7MraisedMar 2024 · 15 investors · Other Technology
Rule 506(b)
Officers, directors & promoters on the filing
  • David SingerDirector
  • Natan LinderDirector
  • Udayan UmapathiExecutive Officer, Director
Offering amount
$20M
Amount sold
$12.7M
First sale
Dec 2023
Incorporated
Corporation, Delaware
Federal exemptions
06b
Full filing on SEC EDGAR ↗
▶$25MraisedMar 2022 · 24 investors · Other Technology
Rule 506(b)
Officers, directors & promoters on the filing
  • Udayan UmapathiExecutive Officer, Director, Promoter
  • Natan LinderDirector
  • Will LangfordPromoter
  • David SingerDirector
  • Maxim LobovskyDirector
Offering amount
$25M
Amount sold
$25M
First sale
Jan 2022
Incorporated
Corporation, Delaware, 2018
Federal exemptions
06b
Full filing on SEC EDGAR ↗

Source: SEC EDGAR Form D. Amounts as filed; amended filings shown once at their latest values.

The YC application· Winter 2019 batch

What they told YC

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.
The founders describe the company as building integrated circuits for biology workflows.
What is your company going to make? Please describe your product and what it does or will do.
The company is building a high-throughput automation system for Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) sample preparation based on digital microfluidic chip technology.

Alumni Q&A

How did your company get started? (i.e., How did the founders meet? How did you come up with the idea? How did you decide to be a founder?)
Volta Labs started at MIT in 2018, based near Kendall Square, after the founders found through research and conversations with scientists that sample preparation lagged behind advances in DNA readout technologies. The work grew out of founder Udayan Umapathi's graduate research at the MIT Media Lab, where a printed circuit board for manipulating droplets developed into an approach to the sample prep bottleneck; the company then raised venture funding.
What's the history of your company from getting started until the present day? What were the big inflection points?
After going through YC in Winter 2019 and raising funding, the company has focused on developing fluidic and sample manipulation technologies, combining instrumentation, fluidics, software, biology, and chemistry. Its current focus is sequencing sample prep, with a longer-term aim of a single machine to automate biological workflows across genomics, proteomics, and synthetic biology.
What is the core problem you are solving? Why is this a big problem? What made you decide to work on it?
The founders point to the falling cost of DNA sequencing, from roughly $300 million for the first draft human genome around 1999-2000 to hundreds of dollars in a day by 2023, while sample preparation for sequencing remains a bottleneck. They decided to work on sample prep because it represents a growing burden on labs as sequencing costs drop toward the $200 genome.

Summarized from the founders' answers on their Y Combinator profile.

Images

Volta Labs, Inc. photoVolta Labs, Inc. photo

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Companies working in the same space as Volta Labs, Inc..

Legal entities · 1

corporate structure
Volta Labs, Inc.

In the news

Frequently asked questions

What does Volta Labs, Inc. do?
Volta develops a hardware and software platform for genomics sample preparation that automates the extraction of biological information. The company serves researchers, laboratories, and healthcare organizations working in genomics, disease control, forensic science, and medicine.
Who founded Volta Labs, Inc.?
Volta Labs, Inc. was founded by Udayan Umapathi in 2018.
Who are Volta Labs, Inc.'s investors?
Volta Labs, Inc.'s investors include Blindspot Ventures Management Co, Mana Ventures, Rising Tide, Soma Capital, The E14 Fund, Y Combinator, Acequia Capital (AceCap), Casdin Capital and 5 more.
How much funding has Volta Labs, Inc. raised?
Volta Labs, Inc. has disclosed $37.7M raised across 2 rounds.
Where is Volta Labs, Inc. headquartered?
Volta Labs, Inc. is headquartered in Boston, US.