Zymergen is not wholly focused on agriculture but it’s a significant part of its business and drove early demand for its molecular products that aim to replace petroleum-based products and other environmentally-damaging ingredients with a biological alternative.
“Pivot Bio is addressing one of the largest sources of GHGs on the planet – the potent nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide emissions associated with the use of synthetic fertilizers,” said Carmichael Roberts of Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
Bayer and Ginkgo Bioworks announced the partnership in September 2017. The partners jointly invested $100 million in the venture, making the deal the second largest deal from an Ag Biotechnology startup in 2017, according to the AgFunder data.
Andressa Lacerda, cofounder and CCO of Noblegen, a Canadian biotech startup met her cofounder Adam Noble when he was a teenager and she was in her twenties, just seven years ago. Since they have raised nearly $10 million and built their own fermentation facility.
Novolyze develops and manufactures microorganisms to improve food safety validation processes for food processors and manufacturers.
The new funding will go toward building out the company’s “Bioworks3” production facility and branching out into more industries beyond the company’s mainstays of agriculture and pharmaceuticals.
The startup spun out of Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB), the life sciences research institute founded by the Flemish Government in 1995, and raised all the funding from local Belgian investors.
Ginkgo Bioworks, a startup genetically engineering microbes for partner companies in the flavor, fragrance and food industries, has raised $100 million in Series C funding from a variety of late-stage investors.
Microbial DNA maker Zymergen recently announced a $42M Series A led by Data Collective, with a group of investors participating, including AME Cloud Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurveston, HVF, Innovation Endeavors, Obvious Ventures, True Ventures, and Two Sigma Ventures.
