Ginkgo Bioworks, an organism design company, today announced that it has raised $45 million in an oversubscribed Series B round. Viking Global, a firm managing more than $30 billion in capital, led the round along with previous investors including OS Fund, Y Combinator and Felicis Ventures.
The new funds will be used to expand into new categories such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and probiotics, as well as hire additional employees and build out Bioworks 2, the next generation of Ginkgo’s robotic Foundry.
Sam Altman, President at Y Combinator, stated:
“Ginkgo Bioworks was our first ever biotech investment and was part of the Y Combinator class of 2014. Synthetic biology is one of the fastest growing areas of tech right now and Ginkgo is leading the category. We’re excited to invest again in the company.”
Ginkgo Bioworks noted that it is at the intersection of industrial design and biology, delivering designer organisms built to specification for customers. The company specializes in engineering microbes to produce cultured ingredients such as flavors, fragrances, cosmetics and sweeteners. The company’s foundry, Bioworks1, employs proprietary software and robotics to streamline the design, construction and testing of engineered organisms.
Jason Kelly, Co-founder, Ginkgo Bioworks, said:
“This new financing allows us to further expand into real-world products in the nutrition, health and consumer goods sectors as well as add to our world-class team of engineers and designers. We’re excited to have top investors like Viking, OS Fund, Y Combinator and Felicis to support our efforts and continued growth.”
Ginkgo currently has more than 20 organism design contracts with customers including Fortune 500 companies. These projects include developing organic pesticides with an agriculture company, sweeteners for a major beverage company and rose oils for a French fragrance company, Robertet.
Bryan Johnson, Founder of OS Fund, then noted:
“Synthetic biology is the next frontier for manufacturing, engineering and medicine. Ginkgo Bioworks has strong momentum in meeting customer needs and is emerging as a leader in this exciting and critical new industry.”
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