May 30, 2024

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Biotech company Allozymes has closed on a $15 million Series A co-led by Seventure Partners and Xora Innovation. 

New investors who joined the round include Thia Ventures, and NUS Technology Holdings, the investment arm of the National University of Singapore, from where the company’s founders earned their Ph.D.’s and the company’s technology was seeded. 

SOSV and Entrepreneur First are existing investors in Allozymes that both continued their backing through this round. 

Allozymes’ technology centers on its proprietary microfluidic platform, which is capable of the industry’s fastest enzyme screening, analyzing more than 20 million variants per day. This translates to a 200x higher chance of success when developing custom enzymes with bespoke properties for specific applications. 

Beyond ultra-high-throughput screening, Allozymes is set above its rivals through its advanced enzyme sorting and detection capabilities, allowing the company to not only flag promising enzyme candidates, but to precisely match them to specific industry needs addressing a critical bottleneck affecting traditional enzyme discovery methodologies. 

“We are thrilled to have secured this funding from a distinguished group of investors who share our vision for the transformative potential of enzymes,” said Peyman Salehian, CEO and co-founder, Allozymes. 

“This investment is a testament to our progress in developing a truly unique and powerful enzyme engineering platform. We are committed to unlocking the full potential of enzymes for a more sustainable and efficient future.”

Allozymes noted that this sizable funding round underscores its transformative potential, and provides it the ability to accelerate its expansion into Europe, forge strategic partnerships within the food and chemical industries, and to lay the groundwork for new partnership in the life sciences and pharmaceutical industries. 

Importantly, this funding will also drive the development of the industry’s most comprehensive enzyme data library. Powerful AI/machine learning algorithms will leverage this data to enable the prediction and generation of novel, robust, biocatalytic solutions for various industries. 

The company added that this newly gained capital will also be used for:

Global expansion – establishing a presence in key regions to address a diverse range of industry needs. 

Platform advancement – building in-house strain engineering, bioprocess, and downstream processing capabilities to enable end-to-end development of new enzymes and strains. 

Vertical expansion co-development – Utilizing its platform to develop robust biosolutions for partners in the life sciences and pharma spaces, and enabling innovative products such as sugar alternatives and the sustainable production of high-value ingredients, bioremediation, and biosecurity. 

“Our platform represents a significant step forward in democratizing access to powerful enzymatic solutions,” said Akbar Vahidi, CTO, Allozymes. “By providing a centralized platform for enzyme discovery and engineering, we aim to empower researchers and companies of all sizes to harness the potential of enzymes and accelerate innovation across various industries.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and Agtech Intel News. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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