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| goBalto CEO Sujay Jadhav |
Study startup specialist goBalto is preparing to up its game in Asia. The San Francisco, CA-based software developer outlined the strategy after raising $12 million from new backers, including Japan's Mitsui Global Investment.
The venture capital wing of Japanese conglomerate Mitsui led the investment round, to which Dolby Family Ventures also contributed. Mitsui and Dolby join Aberdare Ventures, EDBI, Qualcomm Life and West Health Investment Fund on goBalto's list of investors. The new backers will provide goBalto with a financial boost--which it plans to use to scale up its existing operations and develop new software--and support the company as it plots its global expansion.
GoBalto singled out the ability of Mitsui to support its expansion in Asia as a positive aspect of the deal. The company already has an office in Singapore--as well as sites in San Francisco and King of Prussia, PA--and sees globalization as a key part of its future. Some of the fresh funds will go toward its global tech-support operation, an important part of the business given the diversity of countries involved in Big Pharma clinical trials.
Trial sites in 55 countries are now using goBalto's Activate trial startup platform, the company claims. The figure represents a year-on-year jump, in part because of goBalto's success in persuading large pharma companies and CROs to ditch the mix of spreadsheets and emails they have traditionally used to coordinate trial startup.
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