Mahni Ghorashi
| Mahni Ghorashi | |
|---|---|
| File:Mahni Ghorashi.jpgMahni Ghorashi.jpg | |
| Born | July 12, 1983 Knoxville, Tennessee, US |
| 🏫 Education | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Yale University |
| 💼 Occupation | Entrepreneur |
Mahni Ghorashi is an entrepreneur and founder. He later served as Chief Strategy Officer for the state of Tennessee's economic development program for innovation, startups and venture capital.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Early life and education
Mahni Ghorashi was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. He received BS degrees from MIT in 2005,[5] attended the PhD program in English at Yale,[7] and received an MBA from Vanderbilt University. He's an amateur classical pianist.
Early career
Ghorashi started his career as an entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, where he helped grow a number of ventures to exit in Silicon Valley, including Bina (acquired Roche)[8] and LiteScape (acquired RSA).[9] In 2014, Ghorashi co-founded Clear Labs,[10] a private genomics testing company headquartered in San Carlos, California, United States. It conducts high-throughput DNA sequencing tests to determine if food samples contain the genetic materials of specific pathogens.[11] It can also verify a food's ingredients, its GMO status, or whether it has been contaminated by human or animal DNA.[12][13]
Clear Labs was founded by Ghorashi and Sasan Amini,[1] both of whom left their jobs at genomics companies to start Clear Labs.[14] They acquired $6.5 million in series A financing in 2015.[1] In 2017, the company closed a $16 million Series B funding round and followed by another $21 million round in October 2018.[15] The company raised a follow-on round of $18M on May 14, 2020, and $60M Series C for a total of $123.5M.[16][17][18] In 2025 the company raised an additional $30M Series D round[19].The company was listed as one of Forbe's 25 most innovative Ag-tech startups.[20]
Public policy and investment
Mahni served as Chief Strategy Officer at Launch Tennessee, the state of Tennessee's early-stage venture economic growth engine.[21] Launch Tennessee stimulates the statewide economy by facilitating capital formation, market building and providing the needed resources to ensure sustainable growth for entrepreneurs and investors. As Chief Strategy Officer, Ghorashi oversaw state-wide venture capital and portfolio investments, state-wide entrepreneurial incubators, university and government-lab tech-transfer and licensing programs, university engagement, private sector and policy outreach.[9][4][5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Clear Labs Aims To Be Google Search For GMOs In Packaged Food". TechCrunch. 15 September 2015. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
- ↑ "Food analytics startup Clear Labs raises $13 million from Wing, GV, Tencent, more". VentureBeat. 2016-12-13. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
- ↑ "Ilya Tokhner". Vanderbilt University. Owen Center for Entrepreneurship. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Ehlinger, Maija (2020-11-19). "Innovation Has Deep Roots in Tennessee. Now, The Rest of the Country Is Taking Note". Hypepotamus. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Author: Mahni Ghorashi". TechCrunch. 21 January 2017. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
- ↑ "Register". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
- ↑ "LaunchTN". ne-np.facebook.com (in नेपाली). Retrieved 2020-12-17.
- ↑ "Roche acquires Bina Technologies and enters the genomics informatics market". sequencing.roche.com. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "3686now Presents: Deep Roots: Building a High-Performance, Diverse and Connected Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Tennessee". www.3686now.com. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
- ↑ "Clear Labs closes $21M funding round to advance food safety solutions". Food Dive. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
- ↑ "Evolving pathogen testing methods offer better, faster alternatives". www.foodengineeringmag.com. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
- ↑ Leopold, Todd (26 October 2015). "10% of vegetarian hot dogs contain meat, says analysis". CNN. Retrieved 2020-10-31.
- ↑ Bromwich, Jonah Engel (2015-11-05). "No, Hot Dogs Do Not Contain Human Meat (Published 2015)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-10-31.
- ↑ Grant, Rebecca (2015-10-23). "The Company That Wants to Test Your Hot Dog's DNA". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
- ↑ Cathy Siegner. "Clear Labs closes $21M funding round to advance food safety solutions". Food Dive. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
- ↑ "Clear Labs Overview". PitchBook Data. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
- ↑ "Clear Labs raises $18 million to expand its automated next-generation sequencing platform for COVID-19 diagnostics". Tech News | Startups News. 2020-05-14. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
- ↑ "Food safety tester Clear Labs raises $60M to chase COVID-19 variants". FierceBiotech. 26 May 2021. Retrieved 2021-06-01.
- ↑ "Sidley Represents Clear Labs in Its US$30 Million Series D Financing | News | Sidley Austin LLP". www.sidley.com. Retrieved 2026-07-27.
- ↑ Sorvino, Chloe. "The 25 Most Innovative Ag-Tech Startups". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
- ↑ "Meet the Team". Launch Tennessee. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
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