Enduro Genetics, a synthetic biology startup, raised €12 million ($12.4 million) in Series A funding from Supernova Invest, NOON Ventures, and Sandwater. The funding will be used to expand Enduro’s platform and scale commercialization.
According to CEO Christian Munch, Enduro is addressing a problem that has challenged the global biomanufacturing industry for decades: declining productivity at industrial scale. The estimated €400 ($412.5) billion market, encompassing everything from industrial enzymes, biodegradable materials, alternative proteins, and pharmaceuticals, depends on genetically engineered microorganisms to produce these compounds.
Despite best efforts to optimize genetic strains, large-scale industrial processes create conditions that drive microorganisms to mutate, creating cell-to-cell variation, as cells prioritize their survival over production, he explained. These non-productive cells proliferate, outcompeting the productive cells for space and nutrients, until ultimately all the productive cells are gone. This causes a significant drop-off in yield over the production cycle, impacting profitability and reducing efficiency, explained Munch.
Universal bioproduction at scale
Enduro’s patented “synthetic addiction” technology, created by founder and CSO Peter Rugbjerg, PhD, integrates a genetic plug-in into the microbial production host, coupling each cell’s productivity to its health and growth. This ensures that only high-producing cells can survive and thrive, effectively eliminating non-productive cells from the population, maintains Rugbjerg. By maintaining a stable and productive microbial community, Enduro Sense unlocks the full potential of industrial biomanufacturing, enabling consistent, scalable, and cost-efficient production, he added. Rugbjerg’s research into synthetic addiction has been published in Nature and PNAS.
“Enduro Sense” is applicable for all expression systems where the production confers a burden on the microbial host, irrespective of organism or product type, and can be used in established processes as well as new processes under development, claim company officials, who point out that this enables Enduro’s customers to produce existing products more efficiently and drive innovation by accelerating the development and commercialization of new product lines.
Enduro is commercializing its technology at a pivotal time when industries are embracing biomanufacturing to decarbonize and create sustainable alternatives to fossil-based products, such as bio-based fuels, bioplastics, specialty chemicals, alternative proteins, and pharmaceuticals.
The startup already counts clients including biomanufacturers from both the biopharma and food, agriculture, and industrial space. The new funding takes the total raised by Enduro to €18 million ($18.6 million) including grants from the BioInnovation Institute and the European Innovation Council accelerator grant and will be used to expand Enduro’s technology platform and accelerate commercialization.
“This new fundraise is a key milestone for Enduro,” said Munch. “It allows us to accelerate our commercialization efforts, strengthen our technology platform, and expand the technology for use in biopharmaceutical expression systems.”
“Solving the cell-to-cell biomanufacturing challenge has plagued academia and industry for decades,” pointed out Rugbjerg. “Too many companies have been limited by the fact that only a minority of cells used in bioprocesses today contribute to high production.”
“Enduro’s novel technology could act as a critical enabler to break the cost barrier of biosolutions for a massive application into the food and chemical industries,” according to Romain Sautrau, investment director at Supernova Invest. “We were impressed not only with the technology but also the team’s traction in such a short time bringing on board leading biomanufacturing companies. We look forward to working closely with Christian and Peter to support their growth journey.”
“We’re delighted to double down on our investment in Enduro in their Series A round,” stated Theis Malmborg, general partner at NOON Ventures. “Enduro’s cell reprogramming technology is solving major challenges in the bioproduction space and large organizations are already starting to reap the benefits. We believe the team will have an outsized impact on the future of biomanufacturing, and we are excited to be a part of that journey with them.”
