The biomarket is quickly growing, and it’s easy to get lost in all the new projects, mergers and acquisitions and investments going on. In this piece you’ll get to know three incredibly promising investments in biotech.
Based in Bath, UK, Kelpi is a biotech startup with a focus on biorefining algae. A sustainable company, Kelpi aspires to turn seaweed into bioplastic packaging material that is compostable at home and safe for marine life. In recent days, the company secured a £320K (USD $428K) pre-seed funding round. 95K came directly from Innovate UK ‘Combined Investor Partnership’ grant awarded through SETsquared’s Regional Angel Investment Accelerator (RAIA) programme. The remaining funds came from Bristol Private Equity Club (BPEC) and other investors.
From Iowa, USA, Gross-Wen Technologies is a biotechnology company specializing in water quality, wastewater, and water nitrogen. The company has developed a water-cleaning tech that caught the eye of many investors in the state. Their patented process uses algae to clean wastewater. ISA Ventures, Iowa Farm Bureau’s Rural Vitality Fund, and half-dozen other venture capital entities led the funding of $6.5 million (£4.8 million).
Eric Engelmann from ISA Ventures stated that the group is proud to invest in a “groundbreaking company and its technology, led by an exceptional team, to accelerate Gross-Wen Technologies’ growth in Iowa,” adding that it’s also the right time to show the potential and trust in Iowa’s startup ecosystem.
Also from North America, we have biotech firm Genecis Bioindustries, based in Ontario, Canada. Genecis is a biotech company “developing microbes and a fermentation process to upcycle organic waste into high-value materials, such as bioplastics”. They recently secured USD $6million (£4.4 million) in funding from Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen), intended to go towards developing, scaling, and integrating a novel biotech platform to upcycle organic waste into sustainable bioplastics. The feedstock will include discarded packaged food and waste from the municipals’ green bins.
