Synthetic biology start-ups to benefit from £10m investment
7 Nov 2013
The investment fund is designed to help companies in the early stages of synthetic biology that have “evolved” from publicly-funded research.
The investment was allocated to the Rainbow Seed Fund by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) in response to the 2012 Synthetic Biology Roadmap.
BBSRC executive director for innovation & skills Dr Celia Caulcott said: “For synthetic biology to deliver benefits to society we need to translate basic research into useful products, tools and services.
This is a significant move and potentially hugely beneficial for a burgeoning sector
Dr Andrew Muir
“It is notoriously hard for early stage companies to do this because of difficulties moving from an establishment phase towards sustainability. The first round of finance is always the hardest to find and this new fund provides a solution.”
The £10 million fund is managed by private investment firm Midven who believes it will strengthen the UK’s current synthetic biology sector.
Midven director Dr Andrew Muir said: “This is a significant move and potentially hugely beneficial for a burgeoning sector. We are excited by the UK’s strength in the field of synthetic biology and believe there is potential to build world-class companies in the UK.”
Synthetic biology incorporates engineering principles into traditional biotechnology and its applications can be used in the fields of industrial biotechnology, bioenergy, bioprocessing and biosensors - among others.
