Biomatter, a synthetic biology company that creates new proteins for health and sustainable manufacturing applications, secured €6.5 million in a seed financing round. The round was led by UVC Partners and Inventure VC. Practica Capital, Metaplanet and several business angels and industry experts also invested. Biomatter plans to use the new capital to further expand its generative AI platform for the development of new enzymes
Enzymes are indispensable in many branches of industry. They are used in diagnostics, gene therapy, biofuel production and agriculture. Each new application requires a specific enzyme, the design of which has so far been complex and expensive. The process can take months or years and is often based on a trial-and-error approach. Biomatter uses generative AI to overcome these challenges.
Biomatter develops customized enzymes for chemical bioproduction, agriculture, food industry and medicine. Customers include companies such as Thermo Fisher Scientific, BASF and Neogen. Kirin, a leading nutrition and health company, achieved a breakthrough in infant nutrition with Biomatter. Together they produced human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) on an industrial scale. These are important for the health of infants and strengthen the immune system.
“The enzymes we have developed show that we can go far beyond optimizing known enzymes. Our ability to design fundamentally new enzymes will contribute to a better future,” said Laurynas Karpus, co-founder and CEO of Biomatter.
Back in 2019, Biomatter published a key study showing that its AI tool can analyze large amounts of enzyme data and design new enzymes. This was a major breakthrough. The Intelligent Architecture™ platform is the result of years of research. With this technology, enzymes can be designed from scratch or existing protein scaffolds can be redesigned. Generative AI and physical models make it possible to develop and continuously improve tailor-made molecules.
“Biomatter’s innovative approach makes it possible to break through the boundaries of natural enzymes and leads to breakthroughs in biotechnology. We are impressed by the strength of the team and convinced that Biomatter is a pioneer in the field of AI-based protein design,” added Dr. Oliver Schoppe, from UVC Partners.
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2024/08/vilnius-based-biomatter-raises-e6-5-million-to-unlock-new-horizons-for-protein-design/
