Applied Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary owned by semiconductor equipment maker Applied Materials, revealed yesterday that it was one of the investors in the $26m series B round raised by US-based Twist Bioscience late last month.
Twist, the developer of a semiconductor-based process to produce synthesised genes, will use the funds to develop its platform and silicon-based technologies in collaboration with Applied Materials, which sees the investment as an opportunity to extend its expertise in the biotechnology industry.
The round was led by family office Tao Invest, and also included Arch Venture Partners, Paladin Capital Group and Digital Sky Technologies founder Yuri Milner.
Twist concurrently secured a $5.1m contract from the US government’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and, including the capital gained from the contract, has now secured $40.2m in overall funding.