Providence-based biotech company NABsys has shut down after nearly 10 years in operation.
Early investments came from a state-backed technology fund and Point Judith Capital, a company Gov. Gina Raimondo once ran.
Richard Horan, head of the state-backed Slater Technology Fund, describes the biotechnology industry like a batting average in baseball.
“You tend to strike out more often than you hit singles, doubles, triples, or home runs.”
Slater invested about a million dollars in NABsys several years ago. Point Judith Capital provided more seed money. The company went on to raise nearly $50 million dollars and hire 50 employees to develop a cheaper, faster way to analyze DNA sequences. But Horan says NABsys struggled to raise the money it takes to bring a technology like this to market. While that’s not unusual in biotech, it’s a blow to NABsys employees and the state’s sluggish economy.
NABsys officials could not be reached for comment.