Bill Gates Backs Aussie Biotech Start-Up Atomo Diagnostics

11th August 2016, Sydney Morning Herald By Brian Robins

In a rare public display of support for Australian technology, a large US investment fund backed by Microsoft founder Bill Gates has taken a stake in a local biotech start-up.

Launched in 2010 and based in a converted toolshop in Leichhardt, in Sydney’s inner west, Atomo Diagnostics has developed a testing platform which is making inroads into the industry globally. Winning the backing of the Gates-backed fund sends a strong message to biotechs worldwide, Atomo Diagnostics founder John Kelly said.

The fund raising has reduced the stakes of Atomo’s two main holders – Kelly and Sydney businessman Lang Walker – to below 30 per cent each, with both ending up with a “smaller share of a bigger pie”, Mr Kelly, who is also the chief executive, said.

“It sends a very strong message to the global market,” Mr Kelly said of the Gates-backed fund’s decision to support his company. “Atomo is one of the few groups it has invested in directly.”

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