US-based microbe engineering firm Ginkgo Bioworks unveiled a $350m investment vehicle called Ferment Consortium yesterday that will finance startups spun off from the company.
Ferment Consortium is funded by Gingko’s “major investors,” the company said, identifying hedge fund manager Viking Global Investors, growth equity firm General Atlantic and investment holding company Cascade Investment as backers.
Spun out of Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2009, Ginkgo has built a biotechnology platform to grow organisms with industrial applications, spanning areas such as consumer goods, nutrition, cosmetics and fragrances.
Ferment Consortium will aim to build on the success of Ginkgo’s two existing spinoffs: microbiome technology producer Joyn Bio and Motif FoodWorks, the alternative proteins developer originally known as Motif Ingredients.
Joyn Bio was established in 2017 in partnership with chemical and life sciences technology group Bayer, which contributed to a $100m series A round through its Leaps by Bayer unit, investing alongside Ginkgo itself and Viking Global.
Motif followed in February 2019 with a $90m series A round backed by merchant firm Louis Dreyfus Company, dairy cooperative Fonterra, Viking Global, Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
The fund will target established industries where synthetic biology has hitherto been underused, such as personal care, medicines, raw materials and waste recovery.
Portfolio companies will be able to benefit from the expertise of unnamed strategic partners which are set to provide external capital in addition to forming joint ventures with spinoffs.
