Real Time Genomics

What Real Time Genomics does

Real Time Genomics (RTG) is a private bioinformatics software company founded in 2009 and headquartered in Hamilton, New Zealand, with a US sales presence in San Francisco. The company develops data analysis software for next-generation sequencing (NGS) operations, built on a patented pattern search technology that enables accurate mapping and alignment of sequencing data with a claimed unique combination of speed and sensitivity. Its core platform, RTG Core, combines variant detection (RTG Singleton, RTG Family, RTG Population), cancer/somatic analysis, and metagenomics in a single package, and is complemented by RTG Tools, a free utility suite (including the FDA-selected vcfeval variant comparison tool) released under the Simplified BSD License. The technology stack uses Bayesian variant calling methods that incorporate population polymorphism priors, platform-specific error rates, and mapping quality values, with machine learning-based AVR models trained on GIAB truth sets for variant scoring.

RTG serves life sciences research institutions, genome institutes, biotechnology companies, clinical laboratories, and government/regulatory bodies. Named customers and partners include TOMA Biosciences (clinical-grade tumor profiling and liquid biopsy), Annai Systems (high-throughput genomic compute), the Genome Institute at Washington University (metagenomics workflows), Livestock Improvement Corporation (agricultural genomics), VIB Belgium (algorithm development), and PrecisionFDA (regulatory variant benchmarking). The company monetizes through a freemium/open-source model layered with commercial software licensing (RTG Core and RTG Tools are free for non-commercial academic use under BSD, with commercial license pricing available only by direct contact), commercial support contracts, professional services (custom integration, validation, workflows), and a Bio-IT managed services platform for New Zealand research organizations. Go-to-market combines direct enterprise sales, a no-fee channel partner and OEM embedding program, self-serve open source distribution via GitHub, and thought leadership at conferences such as ISCB. The company is founder-owned and founder-led, with Graham Gaylard as CEO and Dr. Stuart Inglis as CTO, and has raised approximately $8M in disclosed funding (a 2009 seed led by Catamount Ventures and a 2013 round).

Name

Real Time Genomics

Legal name

Real Time Genomics, Inc.

Website

https://realtimegenomics.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Real Time Genomics provides NGS data analysis software built on patented pattern search and Bayesian variant calling, serving life sciences researchers, genome institutes, biotech firms, and clinical/regulatory bodies through a freemium open-source model with commercial licensing and services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Genomics Analytics Software

NAICS

Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (54171), Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYHLAGAJAF

Clinical & Translational Informatics (Clinical Data Integration/Real-World Data for R&D)

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Life Science Tools & Services (CRO/CDMO/Lab Services)/Life Science Software & Informatics (LIMS/ELN/Bioinformatics)

SECONDARYHLAGAIAF

Molecular Biology & Genomics Instruments (PCR/qPCR, Sequencing, Microarrays)

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Life Science Tools & Services (CRO/CDMO/Lab Services)/Laboratory Equipment, Instruments & Consumables

SECONDARYHLAGANAA

Genomics & Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) Services

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Life Science Tools & Services (CRO/CDMO/Lab Services)/Specialty Lab Services (Genomics/Proteomics/Cellomics)

Keywords

• Genomics analytics software
• NGS data analysis
• Variant calling tools
• Bioinformatic services
• Metagenomics analysis

Headquarters

HQ city

Hamilton

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Commercial Software Licensing: RTG Core and RTG Tools are available for commercial use under license terms. Non-commercial academic research is free under Simplified BSD License. Commercial licenses are available for purchase with contact for pricing.
2. Commercial Support Contracts: Commercial support packages available for purchase for organizations requiring professional support, maintenance, and assistance with RTG products.
3. Non-Commercial Free Use: RTG Core available free for all users under Simplified BSD License. RTG Tools available free with BSD-licensed source code on GitHub. This model builds community and drives adoption for future commercial opportunities.
4. Professional Services: Custom integration of RTG pipelines, web portal development, algorithms and workflows development, methods development for genomic data analysis, and validation services for electronic records and LDTs.
5. Bio-IT Platform Services: RTG Bio-IT platform provides bioinformatic IT infrastructure hosting, system administration, and bioinformatic package management for New Zealand research organizations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Real Time Genomics provides bioinformatic services and analytical software that reduce the cost and complexity of extracting knowledge from raw genomic (NGS) data. Its product line centers on RTG Core — a full suite of NGS analysis tools for variant detection, cancer, metagenomic and structural variant analysis — supported by the free RTG Tools utility package and a hosted Bio-IT platform for New Zealand research organizations.

Product overview

Real Time Genomics provides a platform-plus-modules architecture centered on RTG Core, which combines all analytical capabilities in a single package. The portfolio includes RTG Tools (free utility package), RTG Variant as a sub-brand covering RTG Singleton, RTG Family, and RTG Population for variant detection at different scales, and RTG Metagenomics for microbial community analysis. RTG Core Non-commercial provides free access to the full suite under BSD license. Products support medical genomic research, personalized medicine, model organism research, plant genomics, and metagenomic analysis.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• RTG Core: Full suite of powerful NGS analysis tools combining all specialized product offerings for end-to-end solution including variant detection, cancer analysis, and metagenomics
• RTG Metagenomics
• RTG Variant
• RTG Tools
• RTG Singleton
• RTG Family
• RTG Population
• RTG Core Non-commercial

Products and services

• RTG Core Full suite of NGS analysis tools combining all specialized product offerings in a single package. Supports variant detection for singletons, families, large pedigrees and populations, cancer, structural variant and CNV analysis, and microbial and metagenomic analysis.
• RTG Tools Free NGS utilities package containing VCF comparison (vcfeval), filtering, merging, annotation, FASTA/FASTQ and SAM/BAM manipulation, and NGS simulation tools.
• RTG Variant Product line encompassing RTG Singleton, RTG Family, and RTG Population for variant detection across different sample configurations from individual to large cohorts.
• RTG Singleton Individual sample analysis for personalized medicine using Bayesian variant calling with 1000 Genomes polymorphism priors, delivering 10X improvement in time-to-result for exome and whole genome analysis.
• RTG Family Family-based variant analysis enabling 33% reduction in parental sequencing costs. Supports multi-generational pedigree analysis for de novo, autosomal recessive and compound heterozygous variant detection.
• RTG Population High performance population-scale analytics supporting joint analysis of large cohorts and N+1 analysis using population priors, with pedigree-aware calling for multi-generational families.
• RTG Metagenomics Comprehensive shotgun metagenomic analysis for accurate species frequency composition and protein searching using patented reference genome mapping technology.
• Professional Bioinformatic Services Tool-agnostic bioinformatic services including custom integration of RTG pipelines, web portal development, algorithms and workflows development, methods development for genomic data analysis, and validation services for electronic records and LDTs.
• RTG Bio-IT Platform Managed bioinformatic IT infrastructure platform providing hosting of servers, storage, and networking along with a bioinformatic Information Technology platform maintained to exacting requirements.

Quantifiable outcome

• 7X improvement in accuracy as measured by Mendelian error rate compared to next best pipeline
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• TOMA BiosciencescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 July 2016Partnership to develop clinical grade analysis tools to process next-generation sequencing data from all types of tumor samples, including tumor DNA circulating in the blood captured via a liquid biopsy. TOMA's tumor-only somatic mutation caller tuned to TOMA OS-Seq technology uses RTG's Bayesian computation to accurately identify somatic mutations and segregate them from germline variants without requiring a normal tissue sample.
• NIST / Genome in a Bottle ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRTG aided in the development of industry standards through NIST and Genome in a Bottle consortia. GIAB truth sets are used in training RTG's AVR models for variant scoring.
• PrecisionFDAcoreTechnology or IntegrationThe FDA selected vcfeval from RTG Tools to perform variant benchmarking comparisons on the precisionFDA community platform for NGS assay evaluation and regulatory science exploration. This is a major validation of RTG's variant comparison technology.
• GA4GH Benchmarking Data Working GroupminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with GA4GH benchmarking data working group including Justin Zook, Rebecca Truty, Peter Kruche, and Kevin Jacobs for valuable feedback and suggestions for improvements to vcfeval.
• zooma PartnersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRTG's next-generation R&D engine (zooma) is available through partnerships or commercial terms for organizations seeking access to cutting-edge genomics research capabilities.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• DNAnexus: Cloud-based genomic data analysis and management platform serving biomedical research, clinical, and pharma customers. Direct overlap with RTG in NGS variant calling, multi-omics pipelines, and enterprise/compliance-oriented genomics workflows.
• Velsera (formerly Seven Bridges): Bioinformatics platform offering NGS analysis pipelines, clinical genomics, and pharma R&D data infrastructure. Competes head-to-head with RTG Core in tertiary analysis and population genomics.
• Partek Incorporated: Partek Flow and Partek Genomics Suite offer NGS and multi-omics analysis with a graphical and pipeline interface. Direct competitor in variant detection, expression, and pathway analysis for research and translational users.
• Golden Helix: Golden Helix's SVS and VarSeq products focus on variant calling, annotation, and clinical genomics workflows. Direct overlap with RTG in tertiary analysis, especially for clinical and translational customers.
• BlueBee: BlueBee provides a regulated cloud genomics platform for clinical and research NGS analysis with emphasis on compliance and multi-omics pipelines. Direct competitor in cloud-delivered tertiary analysis.
• Fabric Genomics (formerly Omicia): Fabric Genomics delivers clinical NGS interpretation and tertiary analysis platforms used by hospitals and clinical labs. Comparable to RTG's clinical-grade variant analysis and somatic/cancer workflows.

Broad incumbents

• QIAGEN Digital Insights (CLC bio): QIAGEN's bioinformatics portfolio (CLC Genomics Workbench, IPA) covers variant calling, interpretation, and biomarker analysis. A larger incumbent with broad life-science reach competing in many of the same analytical use cases as RTG.
• Illumina (BaseSpace Sequence Hub): Illumina's BaseSpace cloud and DRAGEN pipelines provide secondary/tertiary NGS analysis tied to Illumina's dominant sequencer installed base. A major broad incumbent whose bundled analytics can displace independent platforms like RTG.
• Roche Sequencing Solutions: Roche/454 and broader sequencing software (e.g., VariantExplorer, connected with KAPA products) is referenced in RTG's own customer list (VIB ran Complete Genomics workflows with RTG). Broad incumbent with capabilities overlapping RTG's NGS analytics.

Emerging players

• BC Platforms: BC Platforms provides genomic data management and analytics for precision medicine, with focus on clinical and pharma cohorts. Overlaps with RTG in population genomics and clinical research infrastructure.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/RealTimeGenomics/rtg-core
• Xx.com/rtgnews
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/real-time-genomics

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Real Time Genomics