Ginkgo Bioworks
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Biotechnology |
| Founded | 2009 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America |
| Founders | Tom Knight, Jason Kelly, Reshma Shetty, Barry Canton, Austin Che |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Tom Knight Jason Kelly Reshma Shetty Barry Canton Austin Che Christina Agapakis, Creative Director |
Number of employees | ~200 |
| Website | ginkgobioworks |
Ginkgo Bioworks is a biotech company from the United States founded in 2009 by scientists from MIT and headed by Tom Knight. The company specializes in using genetic engineering to produce bacteria with industrial applications.[1][2][3][4] Ginkgo Bioworks is an analytics company that designs organisms for customers in a range of industries. It is the self-proclaimed "Organism Company" and is one of the world's largest privately held biotech companies.[5] As of 2019, it was valued at $4.2 billion.[6]
Funding
In 2019, Ginkgo Bioworks received $290 million in September and a $350 million fund in October. General Atlantic, Viking Global Investors, and Bill Gates’ investment firm Cascade Investment participated in the financing.[5]
In November 2020, Ginkgo Bioworks received $1.1 billion from the U.S. government for COVID-19 testing and production of raw materials for therapies to address future pandemics.[7]
In April 2021, Ginkgo Bioworks is said to be thinking over the idea to go public via a reverse merger with special-purpose acquisition company Soaring Eagle Acquisition Corp. The potential deal could value Ginkgo at more than $20 billion.[8]
COVID-19
In 2020, Ginkgo Bioworks helped optimize a piece of the manufacturing process of Moderna Inc.'s mRNA vaccine.[8]
References
- ^ Molteni, Megan (14 September 2017). "With Designer Bacteria, Crops One Day Could Fertilize Themselves". Wired. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
- ^ Herper, Mathew (8 June 2016). "Boston Startup Raises $100 Million To Use Synthetic Biology To Design Microbes For Industry". Forbes. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
- ^ Adams, Susan (14 September 2017). "Bayer And Ginkgo Bioworks, A Startup, Aim To Make Crops Produce Their Own Nitrogen Fertilizer". Forbes. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
- ^ Weisman, Robert (29 September 2016). "Ginkgo Bioworks opens production site for custom cells". Boston Globe. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
- ^ a b "Ginkgo Bioworks raises $350 million fund for biotech spinouts". Reuters. 2019-10-09. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
- ^ "Ginkgo Bioworks CEO Wants Biology to Manufacture Physical Goods". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
- ^ "Biotech firm Ginkgo in talks with Harry Sloan-led SPAC for over $20 billion deal". Reuters. 2021-04-09. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
- ^ a b "Ginkgo Bioworks reportedly explores $20B SPAC deal". Biz Journal. 2021-04-12. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
External links
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