It was purely a coincidence, but months before the pandemic swept the world, IndieBio — a startup accelerator dedicated to startups using biology to solve big problems — developed jurisdiction, adding a New York arm to operations already spun off from San Francisco. Of course, because of what the world has endured, life science startups are getting more attention than ever, so we thought readers might want a sneak peek at the newest batch of startups that IndieBio NY is getting ready to pitch to investors. roughly a month.
If you’re a founder or VC, or just an interested industry watcher looking for insights into what’s happening in a range of related fields, including agriculture, diagnostics, carbon and methane recycling, and cancer treatment, see what the nine teams have been working on for.
Some of IndieBio’s past startups include meat culture company Upside Foods (raised 400 million dollars last year led by two billion-dollar hedge funds) and MycoWorks, a company that makes skin from fungi that closed a $125 million Series C round last year at an undisclosed valuation. Another company in IndieBio’s portfolio that has gained traction is NotCo, an outfit now backed by Jeff Bezos and Kraft Heinz that licenses the technology to food and beverage makers who want to “i eat vegetarian” some of their products.
Here’s this quick snapshot of each:
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FREZENT Biological Solutions
FREZENT says it is developing a new class of bispecific antibodies to target dormant cancer cells that have survived chemotherapy and may relapse. Its approach is to block metabolism in dormant cancer cells to prevent their reactivation and survival. The group is currently focused on monoclonal antibody discovery and proof-of-concept studies. More here.
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Xias Bio Limited
According Xias Bio, the three most important proteins in skin and hair care products—collagen, keratin, and elastin—are typically derived from cattle hides, chicken feathers, and meat processing (bleaching) byproducts. Given the growing concerns about greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution and deforestation, a new generation of cosmetics, consumers want to see the industry replace these animal proteins with sustainable alternatives and Xias Bio is taking care of them. In particular, he has developed a molecular platform to create multifunctional proteins without animals for licensing. L’Oreal already buys what it sells. later, say the founders of the startup, the idea is to go beyond cosmetics and replace animal proteins in many other areas, including pharmaceuticals and the food industry.
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Earnest Agriculture
Earnest Agriculture says it has engineered a microbial consortium that protects crops from disease, pests and drought while improving soil health. Applied as a seed coating, these patented microbes can increase yields by 7 times, reduce the use of synthetic chemicals and make crops more resilient to climate change, the outfit claims. More here.
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BioMetallica
BioMetallica’s tar is that tens of millions of tons of electronics are discarded each year, much of it incinerated, with billions of dollars of recoverable materials going up in smoke in the process—not to mention the release of toxic fumes. The startup’s eco-friendly solution to recovering some of these rare metals – palladium, platinum and rhodium – is through genetically engineered bacteria that produce biogenic chemicals that separate palladium group metals (PMG) from e-waste, including of used catalytic converters.
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Afinia
Afynia has created and patented a blood test for the early diagnosis of endometriosis that returns a result in days and – the startup says – will be offered through clinics and home collection kits from next year. As with many women’s health startups, the team’s endometriosis test is just the beginning, if all goes as planned. The idea is to build a digital platform that will provide diagnostics, virtual care and prescription deliveries for endometriosis and other conditions. More here (note that the startup was originally called AIMA and hasn’t updated its website yet).
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Coal bridge
To meet EU emissions standards, cargo operators are already ordering methanol-powered ships, but green methanol cannot compete with oil on price, meaning adoption is slow. CarbonBridgeHis solution to the challenge is what he describes as a low-heat, low-pressure microbial process that recycles carbon dioxide and methane into liquid methanol using a bioreactor. More, he says, he can supply the gases cheaply from above 16,000 wastewater treatment plants in the US that usually burn it.
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Aequor
Aequor says it has discovered marine microbes that produce molecules that eliminate bacterial sludge in minutes and applied to water treatment facilities, its liquid concentrate can reduce conventional chemical use by 90%, lower energy consumption by up to 15% and to prevent sludge from clogging filters and causing shutdowns. The larger ambition is to reduce the cost and environmental impact of water treatment while enabling greater access to safe, affordable drinking water. More here.
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Unibaio
Farmers spend almost230 billion dollars every year on herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers designed to increase crop yields, but the unintended consequences are well documented and, not good. Unibaio he says he has a better alternative. According to the company, it has developed a natural microparticle that can supercharge biological pesticides, allowing them to penetrate plants more effectively and reduce the amount of conventional chemicals needed by up to 80%.
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Terra Bioindustries
Bills of discarded food 8-10% of greenhouse gas emissions, as the founders of Terra Bioindustries will tell you. That’s why the company developed a platform for recycling spent brewers’ grains, a beer byproduct that’s often difficult to sell. It works through a low-energy enzymatic process that breaks down the grains into edible sugars and proteins that are then sold to food manufacturers and precision fermentation companies. By using commercial equipment found in most food processing facilities, adoption can also be inexpensive. More here.
