Grail is a mysterious cancer detection startup that’s raised over $1B from tech big boys Alphabet and Amazon to develop groundbreaking tests for early-stage cancer screening.
But, recent headlines hint at some potential trouble looming in their altruistic paradise.
First, they’re rocking back-to-back funding rounds
CNBC reported a few days ago that Grail has approached sovereign funds like Softbank and Mubadala for an undisclosed amount of funding — just months after closing a $900m round in March.
As for the money, the startup expressed their plan to spend a large amount of their last round on a massive breast cancer trial that analyzes the blood of 120k women throughout the world.
And, they’ve already dumped about $100m into the acquisition of Chinese cancer-detection company, Cirina.
Which may have led to the departures of some of their top brass
According to BuzzFeed, there have been a handful of noteworthy departures, including their former CEO, Jeff Huber, in August and most recently, 2 top executives whose exits went unannounced earlier last month.
CNBC reported that some employees were “concerned” about the Cirina acquisition earlier this year, but any talk regarding the departures have remained pretty tight-lipped from the company.