• Elizabeth Holmes, the founder and CEO of the blood-testing startup Theranos, is reportedly looking for investors for a new startup.
  • Holmes and Theranos were charged with “massive fraud” earlier this year by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, which accused the company of misleading investors, customers, and the media.
  • As part of her settlement with the SEC, Holmes agreed to give up financial and voting control of Theranos. And while she can’t be the CEO of a public company for 10 years, she’s still allowed to be the CEO of a privately held company.

The word is that Elizabeth Holmes is looking to raise money for a new startup.

The 34-year-old founder and CEO of the embattled blood-testing startup Theranos is courting Silicon Valley investors in hopes of forming a new company, according to a Vanity Fair interview with the author John Carreyrou.

Carreyrou, the Wall Street Journal reporter who first revealed Theranos had misled the public about its blood-testing product, didn’t disclose what the new startup was or whom Holmes was meeting with.

Holmes, Theranos, and the company’s former president Sunny Balwani were charged with massive fraud by the US Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year. The SEC accused Theranos of making “numerous false and misleading statements in investor presentations, product demonstrations, and media articles” about the company’s blood-testing technology while raising more than $700 million.

As part of the settlement, Holmes agreed to give up financial and voting control of the company, pay a $500,000 fine, and return 18.9 million shares of Theranos stock, and she cannot be a director or officer of a publicly traded company for 10 years. Theranos is a privately held company, however, which means Holmes has been allowed to stay on as CEO. The same rules would apply to a new startup venture.

Amid all the bad press, imploding business partnerships, and SEC charges, Theranos laid off most of its staff and is reportedly on the verge of bankruptcy.

Know anything about Holmes' new startup? Email Business Insider's biotech reporter, Lydia Ramsey, at [email protected]