The joint venture founded last September by Bayer and Ginkgo Bioworks has been officially named and will be known as Joyn Bio. Since its founding, the concern has established research operations in Boston, Massachusetts, and opened additional facilities in West Sacramento, California. The name Joyn Bio references the partnering of the two parent companies, as well as the natural symbiosis between plants and microbes, which forms the basis of the company’s work.
Improving Nitrogen Fixation to Increase Yield and Reduce Environmental Impact
Bayer and Gingko Bioworks founded Joyn Bio with the goal of applying advanced techniques in synthetic biology to agriculture to reduce the environmental impact of nitrogen fertilizer. The original deal provided a Series A investment of $100 million by the parent companies and Viking Global Investors LP.
Joyn Bio’s first effort in this arena is focused on improving microbes’ ability to provide cereal crops their nitrogen requirements, offering major benefits for sustainable agriculture by reducing the need for additional chemical fertilizers.
“Nitrogen fertilizer is a key component in modern agriculture, but is costly, damaging to the environment and challenging to dose precisely. We are committed to bringing innovations to the agriculture industry that give growers a smarter and more sustainable way to grow our food,” said Johan Kers, head of Nitrogen Fixation at Joyn Bio. “I’m thrilled to be Joyn Bio’s first employee and help the team in creating a solution that benefits growers and our environment.”
Microbiome Attracts Heavy Investor Interest
The plant microbiome provides nutrients to plants, protects them from pests, and aids them in difficult environmental conditions such as drought. There have been several recent high profile deals in the past year. Parent company Gingko Bioworks has raised a total of $429 million, including a blockbuster $275 million Series D in December of 2017.
Boston neighbor Indigo Ag, with its portfolio of products that help plants under a range of growing conditions, recently closed on a Series D round of $203 million, and DNA sequencing startup Boost Biome has launched with a $2.5 million seed round led by Nimble Ventures and Viking Global Investors.
By David Nitchman, GAI Media