Two spinouts with strong links to BrisSynBio and the Bristol BioDesign Institute have secured over £1.4m of investment in the last nine months. They are among seven University of Bristol spinouts whose successes have been highlighted in Research England’s 2022 Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) report. Supported by the Research & Enterprise Division within the University, these seven companies have attracted a total of £19.2m of investment this year.
Zentraxa, founded on IP generated through BrisSynBio, specialises in the design, production and testing of novel biomaterials. It has received £320k funding for commercial concept development of both medical adhesives and personal care ingredients that could have use in medicine, for example, skin bonding and wound care, or in personal use, such as skin and hair products.
Glaia, which benefitted from BrisSynBio commercialisation funding and dedicated innovation support, has secured £1 million in new investment to develop its carbon-based technology, the ‘sugar dots’, which increases crop yields and reduces emissions from crops by 30% when applied to the plants.
The KEF results reinforce the findings of other reports ranking University of Bristol 6th in the UK for spinout formation, 3rd for investment into spinouts, and 1st for return on investment.
(This post is adapted from the University of Bristol press release: Seven pioneering University of Bristol spinouts raise £20m, and uses sections of it with permission).