9 start-ups to prove Cork is home to a new biotech revolution
It is being heralded as one of the biggest shake-ups to science and innovation in our time, and this week nine biotech start-ups taking part in the IndieBio accelerator will show how Ireland’s finger is on the pulse of new innovations in healthcare and a whole lot more.
Tomorrow (12 August), nine start-ups taking part in the IndieBio accelerator will pitch their products and services to an audience of investors, academics, industry and scientific partners at a summer party and demo dinner.
The IndieBio Demo Day is the culmination of the €800,000 (US$900,000) investment made by SOSventures in the IndieBio accelerator programme.
SOSventures’ IndieBio accelerator, now in its second year, has attracted some of the best synthetic biology start-ups from around the globe, as well as indigenous entrepreneurs.
The nine start-ups drawn to Cork from Austria, Canada, France, the US and other parts of Ireland have each received approximately $100,000 each, which is made up of cash investment, access to state-of-the-art lab space in University College Cork and mentorship from SOSventures’ global network of top experts from industry and academic partners.
This is understood to be the world’s first and only synthetic biology accelerator programme that focuses on entrepreneurs building technologies in or around the field of synthetic biology, which is where science, technology and engineering intersect.
“From developing yogurts that will make people live longer, to working on revolutionary ways to develop new medicines, to creating peanuts without allergens and ocean-friendly fish-farming feed, I believe at this year’s IndieBio Demo Day, we are going to witness the birth of some world-changing biotech solutions which, in the near future, will have the potential to change major industries,” said Bill Liao, founder of IndieBio and European venture partner for SOSventures.
This year’s biotech start-ups to watch
Ageria: Developing foods beneficial to health and longevity.
Aranex Biotech: Creating a peanut without allergens
BioCellection: Creating an ocean-friendly fish-farming feed that provides the nutritional requirements of commercially-farmed fish without relying on by-catch or trawler-caught fish produce.
Efflorus: Producing high-value fragrance compounds from micro-organisms.
GlowDX: Creating a diagnostic DNA computer for neglected tropical disease.
PiLi: Developing colours for manufacture from natural sources that won’t hurt the planet or customers’ pockets.
Prospective Research Inc: Working on a revolutionary way to discover new medicines from dirt.
Saphium: Designing bioplastic-producing ‘electricity-eating bacteria’ that eat CO2 and release cheaply-purifiable plastic granules, ready for big or small manufacturing, including 3D printing.
Sothic Bioscience: Guaranteeing the supply of critical medical safety-testing compounds and, in doing so, saving a number of endangered species, including the Horseshoe Crab.
