UK-based gene synthesis technology developer Evonetix completed a $30m series B round yesterday backed by product development and technology consultancy firm Cambridge Consultants.
Investment firm Foresite Capital led the round, which included Morningside Group, Civilization Ventures, Draper Esprit, Providence Investment Company, Rising Tide Fund and Data Collective (DCVC).
Evonetix is working on a desktop platform that will enable DNA to be synthesised on thousands of sites across a silicon array simultaneously, meaning longer DNA strands can be synthesised more quickly and accurately than by conventional means.
The capital will fuel technology development as Evonetix targets DNA synthesis use-cases in areas including healthcare, agriculture, data storage and food technology. Proceeds will also go to bolstering headcount across its science, commercial and operations teams.
Tim Brears, CEO of Evonetix, said: “The backing of both our existing and new investors will enable us to fast track development, testing and delivery of our highly parallel desktop platform, which will be available to every researcher to accelerate their ability to use biology on a scale not possible with existing approaches.”
Evonetix has now received $46m of funding since being founded in 2015, it said. It closed a $12.3m series A round in early 2018 that was co-led by DCVC and Draper Esprit and backed by Cambridge Consultants, Providence Investment, Rising Tide Fund and Civilization Ventures.
Morningside was identified as an existing investor in the latest round, and Evonetix’s early backers also include private investor Hermann Hauser.