Sam Altman and Valley VCs Bet $48 Million on New Blood Startup

Vital Biosciences Inc. plans to unveil new technology on Monday that it says can use a few drops of blood for 50 lab-grade tests in 20 minutes.

The idea will give cold sweats to any investor familiar with Theranos Inc. That company, too, aimed to run large numbers of tests on small amounts of blood. It didn’t work, and its founder, Elizabeth Holmes, is currently serving 11 years in prison for fraud after the company rode a $9 billion valuation down to zero.

Vital Biosciences and its backers are aware of the parallels. “In some ways, it makes it more intriguing,” said investor Lachy …