On Thursday, February 9, the seed-stage biotech accelerator IndieBio held a demo day for their fourth class of startups. Several prominent synthetic biology companies, including Memphis Meats and Amino Labs, have already been through this four month program, which gives aspiring entrepreneurs $250k, lab space, and mentorship in exchange for equity. This year’s class included several synthetic biology companies, which are profiled below. These companies all have traction and are tackling important problems in agriculture and transgenics, with some will booking millions of dollars in revenue this year.
Pure Cultures
Pitch video
Pure Cultures develops and manufactures probiotics that promote healthy microbiomes in domestic and farmed animals. This product reduces the need for antibiotics and hormones, and in poultry field trials resulted in a doubling of production yield. They are starting new field trials in egg laying and pigs. Their projected revenue in 2017 is $2.2M, coming from a combination of sales and R&D contracts. They are currently raising a $2M round.
GEA Enzymes
Pitch video
GEA Enzymes is a protein engineering company that has developed an enzyme that can produce unsaturated fats from saturated ones in a manner that is much more efficient than the standard method of centrifugation. They are first applying their technology to the chocolate market, having partnered with multiple multinational corporations in a codevelopment agreement that includes milestone payments and royalties, with upfront payments worth $4M. They have raised $2M of a $3M round.
Ravata Solutions
Pitch video
Ravata Solutions is developing a platform that uses microfluidics in combination with electrophoresis to transfect embryonic cells at a high-throughput scale. They are looking to apply this technology to accelerate the growing transgenic animal market. They have commitments from early customers on the order of $300k and are raising a $2.5M round.