Synthetic biology start-up Cambrium secured $8.5 million in seed funding, bringing its total seed funding to $11.6 million, to fuel the commercialization of a new class of designer proteins that scale sustainably.
WHO: The Berlin-based company brings novel molecules with previously unseen functionalities to life through a technology platform that combines biology and machine learning to supercharge product innovation. Cambrium’s interdisciplinary team of scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs are on a quest to unlock the power of proteins. With its new class of sustainable, high-performance molecules, Cambrium is transforming the paradigm of toxic petrochemicals and unethical animal ingredients currently used in most consumer products.
Earlier this year, Cambrium successfully launched its first molecular ingredient, NovaColl. Designed for highly efficacious skincare, NovaColl is a micro-molecular and 100% skin-identical collagen.
Cambrium’s platform is powered by converging advances in AI, automation, and synthetic biology, allowing for the development of innovative biomolecules for consumer applications at an unprecedented rate. Using its highly data-driven and automated approach, the company commercialized its first molecule in less than two years.
WHY: The seed funds will be used to translate the early successes of NovaColl into lasting impact, as Cambrium’s manufacturing and commercial activities scale towards full replacement of traditional animal-derived collagen. The funding will also accelerate the company’s product pipeline, with molecules for new applications and industries to be launched within the next two years.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS: Cambrium CEO Mitchell Duffy believes, “We founded Cambrium to accelerate past nature’s innovation cycle, for novel molecules that can quickly scale to material impact. “I'm proud that we have been able to generate meaningful revenue with a bioindustrial ingredient at such an early, pre-seed stage, and that we’ve won support from the right investors for our next stage of growth.”
"The marriage of synthetic biology and AI is rewriting the playbook for molecular innovation,” said Ron Zori at Essential Capital, which led the funding round. “Cambrium is leading the way in this broader shift to reinvent the building blocks of industry, one molecule at a time. We believe their computational biology platform, as demonstrated by the rapid development and launch of NovaColl, has the ability to repeatedly translate scientific innovation into high-performance, sustainable molecules supporting a variety of sectors, and we’re thrilled to be part of this journey."
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