The MIT spinout has raised $19.4m from unnamed backers, and the plant-based ingredient developer will use the cash to expand its production capacity.
Manus Bio, a US-based natural ingredient supplier spun out from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has secured $19.4m in a series A round backed by unnamed new and existing investors.
Byron Alsberg, partner at venture capital firm 415 Investments, has joined Manus Bio’s board of directors together with Raymond Nobu Chang, managing director of angel fund NXT Ventures, though neither entity was officially identified as a participant.
Founded in 2011, Manus Bio has commercialised a production technique for natural additives that uses a range of microbes to ferment plant-based sources into ingredients for food flavourings, fragrances and pharmaceuticals.
The system utilises metabolic engineering, protein engineering and systems biology to induce the appropriate enzymatic decomposition for a given ingredient.
The technology was originally invented by Manus Bio’s co-founder and CEO, Ajikumar Parayil, a former research scientist at MIT who also studied metabolic engineering and synthetic biotechnology.
Manus Bio will use the funds to ramp up its manufacturing and distribution capacity. It also appointed Michael Carlos, a former general manager at flavour and fragrance supplier Givaudan, and Zanna McFerson, a former vice-president of commodities trader Cargill, as independent board directors.
Manus Bio had previously disclosed $9m in funding from unnamed investors over two tranches in August and December 2017 after securing $300,000 the previous year, according to securities filings.
The spinout’s existing investors include health tech and biology-focused VC firm Civilisation Ventures and Castor Ventures, a VC fund focused on MIT alumni-founded startups.
