NanoString Technologies

The original patent that is the basis for the nCounter Analysis System was invented and licensed from The Institute for Systems Biology. The business plan was written by Amber Ratcliffe and Aaron Coe and won seed funding in multiple business plan competitions.[5] NanoString was spun out of The Institute for Systems Biology and founded as a separate company in 2003 by Krassen Dimitrov, Amber Ratcliffe and Dwayne Dunaway.[6]

In 2004, NanoString raised its first significant funding in a $4.3M series A financing. They have since raised several more rounds of financing to expand into the development of molecular diagnostics. As of 2011, NanoString Technologies had raised nearly $70M with their series D.[7]

In 2009, Perry Fell who had been CEO since 2004, left the company abruptly and with no official explanation.[8] Between 2009 and 2010 the company operated with an acting CEO, Wayne Burns.[9] Brad Gray, a former Genzyme executive, was hired as president and CEO in 2010.[9]

As of June 2010, the company was not yet profitable.[9] In an interview, Gray suggested that NanoString would begin to develop clinical diagnostics.[9] As of July, 2012, NanoString began indicating a move towards becoming a public company by hiring several senior staff with public company experience.[10]

In 2013, the company's IPO raised funding that was used to expand NanoString sales and marketing.[1]

NanoString's nCounter is a variation on the DNA microarray.[11] It uses molecular "barcodes" and microscopic imaging to detect and count up to several hundred transcripts in hybridization reaction.[12]

More recently, nanoString introduced the GeoMx DSP (Digital Spatial Profiler) to help provide single cell resolution in a spatial context.