PROVIDENCE – Nabsys Inc., a life sciences company that was trying to bring its genome-mapping products to market, has closed, throwing approximately 40 people out of work.
An employee who declined to give her name answered the phone at the 8-year-old company’s Providence office last week and confirmed the recent closure.
Richard G. Horan, senior managing director of the Slater Technology Fund, said Slater invested approximately $1 million over the years in Nabsys; all of Slater’s investments were contingent on the company meeting milestones, such as continued progress and developing a board and management team, he said.
Altogether, he said the company raised more than $50 million, including federal funding.
Horan said he has watched the company’s development and “is certainly disappointed in the outcome, as is everyone who has been involved.” Still, he said the economic-development return that the company brought to Rhode Island was significant, as it employed 50 people at its peak and provided years of employment for its staff.
Nabsys was founded by Dr. Barrett Bready in 2007 from two other companies. •
