News Digest #212 – Twist’ $50m for DNA data storage, SynBioBeta early bird ends Friday

Hi all,

In case you missed our weekend update, twenty seven companies raised $650 million in funding during the first quarter of 2018, which is double the activity of the first quarter of 2017:

This week, DNA synthesis company Twist Bioscience raised $50 million. They plan to use the funds to invest in emerging markets in drug discovery and DNA data storage. Emily Leproust will be speaking at SynBioBeta 2018 - register by Friday to save with early bird registration.

DNA Script was awarded $5.5 million in grants from the European Commission and Bpifrance to accelerate their enzymatic DNA synthesis technology. Wild Type raised $3.5 million to reinvent the production of meat using cellular agriculture technologies. Their first meat is minced salmon that could be used in sushi rolls.

Wild Type co-founders Justin Kolbeck and Aryé Elfenbein, and CEO of Twist Bioscience, Emily Leproust.

3f bio, a Scottish company targeting sustainable production of protein, raised a £6.16 million Series A financing. I’m excited to be among the investors as part of the DCVC SynBioBeta Fund. 3f bio aims to produce mycoprotein, the ingredient in the leading meat-free brand Quorn™, at half the current production cost with 90% lower carbon footprint and 95% lower water and land footprint compared to beef.

The 3f bio technology, and Founder/CEO Jim Laird.

This week, we’re co-hosting a dinner with the law firm Venable to talk with key opinion leaders about the future of molecular manufacturing and materials. If you’re interested in organizing a similar dinner with thought leaders on a specific topic, please contact me.

IndieBio’s Demo Day is April 14th. RSVP to see the culmination of their latest class of fourteen biotech companies at the beautiful Herbst Theatre in San Francisco.

Finally, we are seeking a few great writers/columnists to grow our content team in synthetic biology. It’s a great opportuni