Zymergen, the US-based biomanufacturer backed by telecommunications and internet group SoftBank and conglomerate Hanwha, is going public today in a $500m initial public offering on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
The offering consists of just over 16.1 million shares, upsized from an initial allocation of 13.6 million and priced at the top of its $28 to $31 range. Its shares are trading at $39.45 at time of publication, giving it a market capitalisation of more than $3.8bn.
Founded in 2013, Zymergen produces materials using biological processes, including films for use in smart electronics devices such as rollable tablets. It made a $262m net loss in 2020 from $13.3m in revenue but will channel the IPO proceeds into product commercialisation.
The company had raised a total of $874m prior to the offering, including $130m in a 2016 series B round led by SoftBank at a $430m valuation.
SoftBank was joined by existing investors Iconiq Capital, Prelude Ventures, Tao Capital Partners, True Ventures, DCVC, AME Cloud Ventures, DFJ, Innovation Endeavors, Obvious Ventures and Two Sigma Ventures, Zymegen’s earlier backers including company builder HVF.
Zymergen added $400m in a 2018 series C round led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund that included Hanwha vehicle Hanwha Asset Management, Goldman Sachs, Data Collective (DCVC), DFJ, Innovation Endeavors, True Ventures and Two Sigma Ventures.
Vision Fund contributed $25m to the company’s $300m series D round in September 2020. It was led by Baillie Gifford and backed by Baron Capital Group, True Ventures, DCVC, Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC and Perceptive Advisors.
Vision Fund vehicle SVF Excalibur is Zymergen’s largest shareholder, with a 27.1% stake diluted from 32.4% stake pre-IPO. Data Collective owns a 7.5% stake while True Ventures holds 7.1% and GIC 4.6%.
JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs are lead book-running managers for the IPO while BofA Securities, Cowen and UBS Investment Bank are book-running managers and Lazard co-manager.
They have 30 days to take up an option to buy more than 2.4 million more shares, potentially lifting the size of the offering to $575m.
