[Funding alert] String Bio raises $20 mn in Series B round

Biotech startup String Bio has raised $20 million in its Series B funding round from Ankur Capital, Dare Ventures, Redstart, Zenfold Ventures, and Woodside Energy.

The startup said it has entered into a strategic development agreement with Australia’s Woodside Energy to produce sustainable protein ingredients from greenhouse gases.

The funding and collaboration will enable the company to further the market growth of its products and strengthen its decarbonization impact.

The Bengaluru-based String Bio was founded in 2012 by Ezhil Subbian and Vinod Kumar, It uses biotechnology to produce animal feed and food ingredients.

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The products enabled by the company’s platform range from protein content for nutrition to products for innovative crop inputs and biodegradable polymers. The company has its first multi-purpose gas fermentation facility in Bengaluru that can run on methane from both natural gas and biogas.

“The vision for String has been to leverage cutting edge advances in biotechnology to enable better living at significantly reduced environmental footprint. With the Woodside collaboration and Series B raise, we are taking a giant step forward to bring such solutions to market – solutions that are better for people and the planet,” said, Dr Ezhil Subbian, Co-Founder and CEO of String Bio.

Vinod Kumar, Co-Founder and Managing Director, String Bio, said the partnership with Woodside will mark a milestone in introducing carbon-friendly products to the global market.

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Commenting on the funding, Woodside Energy CEO Meg O’Neill said the investment in String Bio builds on Woodside’s ability to potentially abate greenhouse gases through the conversion of carbon into useful products.

“We believe String Bio’s technology could eventually be used to recycle methane at Woodside facilities. It could also be deployed at third-party sites, with available biomethane such as landfill facilities and farms,” she added.

“We are excited to deepen our investment with them to bring their products to market with like-minded partners across the globe and drive the climate impact they envision,” said, Ritu Verma, managing director of Ankur Capital.

About String Bio

String’s purpose is to commercialize next generation ingredients that enable sustainability and traceability in evolving value chains. String Bio is in the business of manufacturing raw materials for Animal Nutrition, Agriculture, Human Nutrition and Personal Care sectors that are derived using a sustainable and traceable process.

 String, as one of the world leaders in gas fermentation, has a strong IP protected platform called SIMP (String Integrated Methane Platform) that enables production of high quality ingredients using methane. Their proprietary platform leverages advances in synthetic biology, fermentation technology, chemistry and process engineering.

Their mission is simple: To innovate at the cutting edge of biology, engineering and chemistry to enable sustainable and scalable solutions in sectors that are fundamental to living.