Zymergen, a US-based advanced materials developer backed by conglomerate Hanwha and internet and telecommunications group SoftBank, secured $300m in series D funding yesterday.
Investment management firm Baillie Gifford led the round, which also featured asset manager Baron Capital Group and an undisclosed sovereign wealth fund, in addition to growth financing from Perceptive Advisors. The company expects to raised additional cash for it later this year.
Founded in 2013, Zymergen is working on advanced microorganism-based materials for use in the electronics, agriculture, pharmaceutical and plastics industries.
The funding will support an increase in the manufacturing of Hyaline, a range of bio-based polyimide films the company has created that can be used in electronic components like touch screens, wearable sensors or optical filters for camera lenses.
Josh Hoffman, chief executive of Zymergen, said: “We built Zymergen to make revolutionary high-performance products that outshine existing materials while dramatically reducing environmental impacts.
“This is the right investment for this moment, advancing our transformational long-term vision and bringing real products to market.”
Zymergen has now raised $874m in total, $130m of which came in a 2016 series B round led by SoftBank at a $430m valuation.
SoftBank was joined in the series B round by Iconiq Capital, Prelude Ventures and Tao Capital Partners as well as True Ventures, Data Collective (DCVC), AME Cloud Ventures, DFJ, Innovation Endeavors, Obvious Ventures and Two Sigma Ventures, all of which had joined HVF in Zymergen’s series A funding.
The company added $400m in a late 2018 series C round led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund and backed by Hanwha subsidiary Hanwha Asset Management, investment bank Goldman Sachs, DCVC, DFJ, Innovation Endeavors, True Ventures and Two Sigma Ventures.
