UK’s Evonetix extends Series B with €22.3M to commercialise DNA synthesis platform

Cambridge-based Evonetix, a synthetic biology company that brings semiconductor technology to DNA synthesis, announced on Tuesday, February 7, that it has raised an additional $24M (approximately €22.36M) to bring its total Series B funding round to $54M.

The round was led by existing investor Foresite Capital. Molten Ventures, Morningside, DCVC, Cambridge Consultants, Civilization Ventures, and Providence also participated in the round.

Jim Tananbaum, Founder and CEO at Foresite Capital, says, “We continue to be impressed by the Evonetix team and technology, and are excited to lead this round to accelerate their commercial strategy and make gene synthesis more accessible.”

“Reimagine Biology”

Founded in 2015 by Matthew Hayes and currently led by CEO Colin McCracken, Evonetix claims to reimage biology by developing a different approach to gene synthesis – a highly parallel desktop platform to synthesise DNA with better accuracy and scale.

The patented Binary Assembly method developed by Evonetix uses a silicon chip to manage the synthesis of DNA at thousands of separate thermally controlled reaction sites, or “pixels”, and their assembly into highly accurate long DNA on the chip surface.

The company says this method accelerates research in the field of synthetic biology by allowing the precise synthesis of thousands of sequences on a single chip to fulfil the need for complicated libraries and the assembly of lengthy DNA in days rather than weeks.

The Evonetix DNA writer will be a desktop platform that is accessible to all researchers. The company says this third-generation DNA synthesis technology will provide scalable, accurate DNA synthesis.

According to the company, it has the potential to revolutionise how this DNA is manufactured and supplied to consumers, boosting research in applications across medicine, biotech, food, agriculture, and data storage.

Capital utilisation

Evonetix says it will use the funds for the commercialisation of its semiconductor chips and to expand the gene assembly capabilities of its proprietary binary assembly technology.

Colin McCracken, CEO at Evonetix, says, “This substantial investment round demonstrates continued confidence in the progress of our technical development and its potential to revolutionise the accessibility of gene synthesis.”

“Evonetix is in a very exciting phase, having recently opened our early access programme. This investment will support us as we execute on our commercial strategy to put benchtop gene synthesis in the hands of users,” adds McCracken.