Performance Genomics Inc., a Truro-based biotech company that aims to improve the fertility of livestock, has received a $250,000 equity investment from Innovacorp, capping off a year in which it has raised more than $500,000 from a variety of sources.

One of the veterans of the region’s life sciences industry, PGI identifies genes that control reproductive performance in mammals and is developing genomics tests to predict how long livestock will stay fertile. If farmers can identify which cows stay fertile the longest, they can employ selective breeding to ensure their cattle produce more calves, thereby increasing the value of their operation.  The company is focusing on dairy cows, but the technology can be used for other animals.

The company secured a $250,000 equity investment from Innovacorp, $50,000 from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency's Productivity and Business Skills Program, and up to $133,000 from the National Research Council's Industrial Research Assistance Program.

“This new money will take us through 12 to 18 months, which will bring us to our second-generation product,” said CEO Michael Dennis in an interview, adding the first product should be on the market in 2015.

PGI won BioNova’s BioInnovation Challenge competition last September, and was then working on the next generation of its product because the early versions were not accurate enough.  The company realized it needs to have better than an 80 percent accuracy rate, and Dennis said the company knows “we can identify the right genes” to reach that level.

It signed a partnership agreement with a major international partner in October, which Dennis described as just about the best company in the world it could be working with.

Before the funding announced last week, the company had raised about $90,000 in the past year from various sources: $25,000 from its new partner, $40,000 from management, family and friends, and $25,000 from a Nova Scotia Innovation Voucher.

Performance Genomics was spun out of the former Nova Scotia Agricultural College and in years past raised funds from a variety of sources, including an Atlantic Innovation Fund loan from Acoa and equity investment from individuals through the Community Economic Development Investment Fund program. The company now operates out of the Perennia Innovation Centre in Truro.

"PGI is striving to solve a real problem impacting farmers in Nova Scotia and beyond," said Stephen Duff, president and CEO of Innovacorp. "The company has clearly established a near-term path to market now, and we're pleased to be part of their growth story."

Down the road, Performance Genomics wants to develop products to identify reproductive genes in humans to help, for example, identifying what could cause infertility. Dennis said that any work on human genes would probably require its own financing.

Innovacorp made clear that it approved the financing for PGI before it asked Dennis to join the agency on a temporary contract, and that Dennis had no part in the decision to invest in PGI.

Dennis has joined the investment team for one year, filling in for investment officer Lidija Marusic, who has taken a leave of absence.

Dennis is working with seven life sciences companies that are not yet members of the Innovacorp venture capital portfolio and is preparing them for investment. He believes there are two that are just about investment-ready.

“There’s a pretty good pipeline of life sciences companies here,” he said.” Innovacorp played a large part in creating the pipeline through their Early Stage Commercialization Fund.”