BillionToOne

BillionToOne is a next-generation molecular diagnostics company focused on creating powerful, highly accurate tests that are accessible to all. Built on its proprietary molecular counting platform, the company develops diagnostics that can measure DNA at the single-molecule level, enabling a new standard of precision across both prenatal and oncology care.

Its Unity Complete® test is the first and only test that uses cell-free DNA to provide pregnancy-specific fetal risk for both recessive and chromosomal conditions from a single maternal blood sample. In oncology, its Northstar® liquid biopsy portfolio supports both therapy selection and real-time treatment monitoring for patients with cancer. 

BillionToOne was co-founded in 2016 by Oguzhan Atay, Ph.D., and David Tsao, Ph.D. In late 2018, the company moved into Tarlton’s Menlo Park Labs life science incubator, just as it began receiving data from its initial clinical studies.

At the time, the company was small but ambitious — and already thinking several steps ahead.

Early Growth at Menlo Park Labs

During its time at Menlo Park Labs, BillionToOne obtained a high-complexity CLIA license, commercialized UNITY™, and grew rapidly from 6 to more than 60 employees.

As the company scaled, Tarlton worked closely with the BillionToOne team to manage their expanding space needs within the incubator.

“Because our ops team recognized BillionToOne as being particularly astute in their business, we allowed them to grow faster and larger in our incubator than we normally would,” said Tarlton COO Ron Krietemeyer. “We felt that they had an amazing combination of management team and science and were excited to support their growth.”

Following the close of its Series A and A+ financings in 2019, BillionToOne leased approximately 36,000 square feet at 1035 O’Brien Drive, transforming the facility into its corporate headquarters. The space included flexible R&D and clinical labs, offices, collaboration areas, and infrastructure designed to evolve alongside the company’s growing diagnostics portfolio.

“When I met with Oguzhan about next steps for space for the business, I was really blown away — it was without a doubt the best presentation I had seen in 30 years,” added Tarlton CEO John Tarlton. “Oguzhan had a command of not only the science, the business, and the finances, but also of the nuances of the market and how to position the company for substantial strategic advantage. It was a unique marriage of scientific and business savvy at a level that I had not previously seen in one person.”

Despite construction delays caused by COVID-19 shutdowns, the facility was delivered in 2020 — and within a year, planning for the company’s next facility had already begun.

Expanding Beyond Headquarters: Union City Labs

Less than 12 months after occupying its Menlo Park headquarters, BillionToOne began design discussions for an even larger facility at Tarlton’s Union City Labs — signaling a shift from single-site growth to a distributed operational model.

The Union City facility, located at 3200 Whipple Road, spans approximately 90,000 square feet and was designed primarily as a lab-forward, production-focused environment, while Menlo Park remained the company’s corporate and administrative hub.

Unlike the earlier headquarters project — which reused portions of existing infrastructure to accelerate delivery and manage cost — the Union City facility was gutted and the interior was rebuilt, giving BillionToOne more control over layout, workflow, and long-term flexibility.

Key features of the Union City facility include:

- A significantly higher lab-to-office ratio

- Mobile lab benches to allow rapid reconfiguration as workflows evolve

- Infrastructure designed for future automation, including compressed air distribution

- Expanded warehousing and high-pile storage to support increased material throughput

- Enhanced employee amenities, including a dramatic lobby, all-hands space for 300 people, gaming areas, and upgraded serving and dining facilities

- Extensive branding, interior glazing, and visual transparency throughout the labs

The building, originally a former Bank of America check-printing facility, required major upgrades, including new mechanical, electrical, plumbing systems, increased power capacity, and a reimagined façade with an outdoor plaza and patio.

From kickoff in November 2021 to occupancy in December 2022, the project was delivered in just 12 months — an unusually fast timeline for a life science conversion of this scale, enabled by close coordination with local agencies and a tightly integrated project team.

For BillionToOne, the facility represented more than additional capacity. It was a deliberate signal of growth, designed to ensure that employees working at the company’s “secondary” location experienced the same pride, quality, and sense of momentum as those at headquarters.

A National Leap: Austin Labs

Building on the success of its Bay Area expansion, BillionToOne next partnered with Tarlton to develop a ground-up, single-tenant life science facility in Austin, Texas — its largest and most ambitious space to date.

At approximately 223,500 square feet, the Austin facility represents a significant scale-up from Union City and marks BillionToOne’s transition into a national operating footprint. Designed to support approximately 600 employees, the three-story building is projected to be roughly 70% lab and 30% office, with operations, offices, and labs distributed across all floors.

Design for the interior began in early 2024, with occupancy targeted for August 2027.

As a multi-level lab environment, the Austin facility includes a specialized lab dumbwaiter system to move samples safely between floors; redundant vertical transport systems to maintain operations during equipment downtime; and advanced airflow, pressurization, and contamination control strategies. The space also features a tiered event space designed for large-scale all-hands meetings, and a catering kitchen to support daily meals for the company’s large workforce.

A Partnership Built for Long-Term Scale

BillionToOne’s growth has been guided by a leadership team with a clear, long-range vision — and supported by a real estate partner capable of planning several moves ahead.

From incubator labs to headquarters, from single-floor facilities to multi-building campuses, and from regional growth to national expansion, Tarlton has worked alongside BillionToOne to anticipate needs five to ten years out, applying lessons learned from each project to the next.

Today, BillionToOne operates across three cities and nearly 350,000 square feet of purpose-built life science space, with additional expansion already under consideration. What began as a single incubator lab has evolved into a flexible, future-ready platform — designed to support the company’s mission, its people, and its continued innovation in precision diagnostics.

"Tarlton has been a great partner since Day 1. They’ve been extremely supportive and flexible throughout our journey,” said BillionToOne co-founder and CEO Oguzhan Atay, Ph.D. “Thanks to Tarlton's flexible accommodation, we’ve been able to grow from a single room, to 10+ lab and office spaces, to multiple buildings in three different cities. Our growth would not have been this smooth without Tarlton's continuous support and flexibility."

Click here to see our BillionToOne project at Union City Labs.