Novaflow

What do they actually do

Novaflow is a web platform that runs end-to-end bioinformatics analyses for common sequencing experiments so lab scientists don’t have to write pipelines or code. Users upload raw files (or small processed tables), describe the experiment in plain English, and Novaflow selects and runs an appropriate workflow (examples shown include RNA‑seq and ATAC‑seq). It returns interactive, publication‑ready plots, clean result tables, and a runnable Jupyter notebook for auditability Novaflow site YC listing.

The product emphasizes a natural‑language front end, automated pipeline selection/generation, and reproducible, versioned runs so biologists can get interpretable results without being bioinformatics experts. Public materials show live pipelines, example outputs, and testimonials from named academic labs; the team has also announced added support for long‑read/Fiber‑seq analysis, indicating active feature development Novaflow site YC listing CTO LinkedIn post.

Who are their target customer(s)

• Academic PI or lab manager running sequencing experiments: Needs quick, publishable results but depends on a small or overloaded bioinformatics resource, slowing grants, papers, and student projects. Novaflow targets these labs and highlights faster turnarounds at named universities Novaflow site YC listing.
• Graduate student or postdoc without bioinformatics experience: Spends weeks learning command‑line tools or waits on others, risking errors and delays; wants clear plots and tables for figures. Novaflow’s natural‑language front end and exportable notebooks aim to let non‑coders get reproducible analyses Novaflow site.
• Scientist at a small biotech R&D team: Lacks a dedicated bioinformatics team but needs reliable, auditable analyses to inform go/no‑go decisions and share with partners. Novaflow emphasizes versioned runs and exportable code for auditability Novaflow site.
• Core sequencing facility manager: Must deliver standardized, quality‑checked results to many labs while reducing support tickets and queues. Novaflow’s single platform for common assay types and claimed turnaround improvements align with this need Novaflow site YC listing.
• Clinical/diagnostic lab data manager or compliance officer: Requires secure, auditable workflows and on‑prem or enterprise integrations to meet institutional/regulatory requirements. Novaflow advertises enterprise/on‑prem options, access controls, and versioned runs Novaflow site.

How would they acquire their first 10, 50, and 100 customers

• First 10: Offer targeted, no‑cost pilots to labs at the named universities and cores already in reach, analyzing one real experiment end‑to‑end and delivering figures plus a runnable notebook; secure testimonials and a short methods case study from each Novaflow site YC listing.
• First 50: Convert core facility partners and run free/low‑cost workshops and office hours for trainees, then use time‑limited credits to onboard attendees to self‑serve runs; standardize templates for common assays to reduce setup friction Novaflow site.
• First 100: Run paid, short‑term pilots with small biotech and clinical labs, including on‑prem/security‑hardened deployments and an audit package (run logs, notebooks, SOPs) plus an SLA tier; use academic case studies and references to shorten procurement cycles Novaflow site.

What is the rough total addressable market

Top-down context:

Defined narrowly as bioinformatics services/NGS analysis that Novaflow replaces, the market is roughly USD ~1.27B (NGS services) to ~USD ~3.2B (broader bioinformatics services) in 2024; broader bioinformatics software + services is often estimated at ~USD 20–26B Grand View Research Fortune Business Insights.

Bottom-up calculation:

Starting from ~USD 1.27B in global NGS analysis services, assuming North America is ~45% yields an initial SAM of ~USD 580M; capturing ~1% of that SAM would be ~USD 5.8M ARR at scale Grand View Research.

Assumptions:

• North America accounts for ~45% of bioinformatics services spending (used as a proxy for NGS analysis share) Grand View Research.
• Novaflow primarily addresses the NGS analysis/services slice rather than the entire genomics software market at first.
• Revenue capture is benchmarked against current services spend rather than total sequencing spend.

Who are some of their notable competitors

• DNAnexus: Enterprise cloud platform for secure, compliant genomic data analysis and workflow orchestration used by pharma and research institutions DNAnexus.
• Seven Bridges: Cloud-based bioinformatics platform offering scalable pipelines, collaboration, and managed infrastructure for NGS analyses Seven Bridges.
• Terra (Broad Institute/Verily/MS): Workspace-based platform for running reproducible workflows (WDL/CWL), managing data, and using notebooks on Google Cloud/Azure for bioinformatics projects Terra.
• Basepair: Point-and-click NGS analysis platform with prebuilt workflows for biologists, covering common assays like RNA‑seq and ChIP‑seq Basepair.
• Partek Flow: On-prem/cloud software for interactive NGS data analysis and visualization across multiple assay types with guided pipelines Partek Flow.