Tempus Raises $80 Million in Latest Funding Round

Tempus Raises $80 Million in Latest Funding Round

One key to successfully fighting cancer is the ability to track knowledge and share individual successes universally. That defines the approach taken by Tempus, the medical technology company co-founded by current CEO Eric Lefkofsky.

In March of 2018 the two-year-old Chicago-based tech firm raised $80 million in new funding to continue its work. This comes after an initial $70 million investment was raised the previous year.

The company accumulates clinical data to focus on new trends in cancer treatment around the world and to generate learnings found in the treatment of individual patients. This involves a range of advanced technology approaches. For instance, one strategy is to digitize oncologists’ notes and make them searchable and readily available universally so that individual successes can be replicated and the pool of knowledge can be organically grown.

The firm also provides state-of-the-art DNA and RNA sequencing services based on cutting edge analytics and advanced imaging recognition algorithm capabilities to improve treatment predictions and outcomes.

The end goal of all of the new and improved technologies is to enable physicians and cancer researchers to make better data-driven treatment decisions.

Partnership and shared knowledge is critical to the young company’s scientific approach. That’s why Tempus works with pharmaceutical firms, individual doctors and research and hospital systems that include the Mayo Clinic and those of the University of Michigan, Northwestern University and the University of Chicago. In short, the young company works with almost half of the academic medical centers in the United States. The company believes that this combined, cleaned up and shared knowledge is a valuable tool in the improved treatment of cancers of all kinds.

The investment round completed in March came from several respected investor sources, including funds under the direction of T. Rowe Price Associates. Other investor groups behind the recent funding round included Revolution Growth, Kinship Trust Company and New Enterprise Associates.

Crain’s Chicago Business estimates that the startup company is already valued at $1.1 billion. It has some 400 employees, and Lefkofsky says that his firm is growing at the rate of about 30 new employees every month. That employee base includes teams of physicians, scientists, engineers and IT professionals.

The company co-founder is no stranger to entrepreneurial success. Lefkofsky has founded numerous tech companies. In 2016, he and his wife, Liz, established the Lefkofsky Family Foundation to donate to a range of charitable causes.

They have deep roots in the city. Lefkofsky serves as chairman of the board of trustees for the Steppenwolf Theatre and he’s a trustee of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Science and Industry and Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Furthermore, he’s an adjunct professor at the University of Chicago.

Eric Lefkofsky’s fight for better cancer outcomes is personal, and his company is well positioned to be a prime player in that ongoing battle.