Illumina acquires BlueBee

18.06.2020

Halle, Belgium, June 18th 2020 – Korys announces the successful acquisition of its portfolio company BlueBee by Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN). BlueBee provides genomics analysis solutions for research and clinical labs through a regulatory compliant, globally secure cloud platform that simplifies access to data and tools, enabling users to easily extract insights from genomic data.

Korys first invested in BlueBee in 2016 in its series A financing based on the premise of an overall expansion of sequencing activity in both research and the clinic, increasingly decentralized and with an associated data processing challenge. Korys has been supporting the company ever since as a reference shareholder in becoming the go-to platform for the processing of multi-omics data. “From the start, we have been impressed with the long-term vision of the management team. BlueBee very quickly identified the ever-increasing necessity of processing genomics data in a secure and scalable manner on a global basis. The team has managed to build probably the most agile platform, enabling clinical applications and translational research and as such allowing for the industrialisation of genomics data processing and management. We are extremely proud to have contributed to this success story”, says Christoph Waer, Investment Director at Korys. The integration of BlueBee’s capabilities into Illumina’s cloud portfolio will give users the flexibility to run their own custom analyses or access industry-leading options such as the DRAGEN™ Bio-IT Platform, streamlining data processing and increasing their operational efficiency. Users also will be able to aggregate, explore and collaborate on data and methods directly in the cloud through a user-friendly, ISO-compliant, flexible interface. BlueBee’s capabilities include intuitive analysis management (BlueFlow), multi-modal data management (BlueBase), and data science and AI tools (BlueBench), as well as integrated business analytics, and multi-cloud or on-premise deployment modes. This is a substantial addition to Illumina’s cloud software portfolio which includes BaseSpace™ Sequencing Hub, one of the most widely utilized software for sequencing run management and data sharing. “I’m grateful to Korys for their investment and partnership which has led us here today”, said Hans Cobben, CEO of BlueBee. “Together with Illumina we will merge high power computing and advanced data science technologies to help propel genomics forward and deliver on its clinical promise.”

About Korys – www.korys.be

Korys is the investment company of the Colruyt family. Today, it has more than EUR 4.5 billion of assets under management. Besides holding a significant participation in the Colruyt Group, a leading retail company in Belgium and France, it actively manages participations in privately held companies and in private equity funds. Korys has also set up proprietary funds to manage its portfolio of listed investments. Across its activities, Korys’ investment decisions are taken with a long-term perspective and on basis of strict economic (Profit), social (People) and ecological (Planet) criteria. Korys aims to create sustainable value in three major ecosystems: Life Sciences, Energy Transition and Conscious Consumer. To do this, Korys can count on a motivated team of 30 professionals based in Belgium and Luxembourg.

Press Contacts – Korys

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