Pediatric screening company baebies raises $37.5M in equity, from 87 investors

DURHAM – The newborn and pediatric screening test company baebies, inc. has raised more than $37.5 million in equity from 87 investors, months after raising nearly $12 million in debt financing, according to an SEC filing.

The filing was signed by CEO Richard West. In total, the company disclosed it had raised $37,568,813. But the filing notes that the total offering amount was $50 million.

The company closed a $28.3 million equity round in May 2021, from 173 investors, as well. Other prior fundraising rounds came in 2015, 2018, and 2019.

Baebies received a $500,000 Strategic Growth Loan from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center in 2014. That funding came when the company was founded. The company went on to raise $13 million in equity financing the following year.

Durham pediatric screening firm Baebies raises nearly $12M in debt from 87 investors

Pediatric screening

The company announced in November 2021 that it had developed an RT-PCR test to identify SARS-CoV-2 to provide accurate testing. According to the company, the tests provide rapid results in about 17 minutes, using the company’s diagnostic platform known as FINDER 1.5.

In addition to the prior funding rounds, baebies received an $11.6 million grant in April 2021. WRAL TechWire reported that this grant was to be allocated in order “to support the development of a near-patient and rapid diagnostic testing platform to identify sepsis, specifically for neonatal and pediatric patients.”

The company received regulatory clearance to commercialize a test for the COVID-19 virus in Europe earlier this year.

The company did not respond immediately to a request for comment.