Biotech engineer uFraction8 has secured more than £2.5 million in funding to further development of its instruments designed to bring down the cost of sustainable food systems and biology-based medical treatments.
The fresh investment will allow the Falkirk-based company to expand its facilities and deploy large-scale tests with prospective customers. A mini-industrial demonstrator is currently being trialled by clients from the food production and biotechnology industries.
Co-founded in 2017 by Dr Brian Miller and Dr Monika Tomecka, uFraction8’s bio-separation instruments are designed to more efficiently separate cell-based products from the liquids in which they are grown. This includes foods derived from microscopic algae, drugs from the cells of mammals, and yeast-based products such as beer or medicines.
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The investment round was led by Swiss-based private equity group Thia Ventures alongside specialist food technology investors Blue Horizon and EIT Food, with additional funding from a London-based angel investor. The round was further supported by Scottish Enterprise and global research group Leave a Nest, and grant funding from the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) and Innovate UK.
As a result of the deal, Abel Rossignol and Bart Van Hooland of Thia Ventures will join uFraction8’s board of directors.
“This significant investment, along with the immense and highly successful bio-manufacturing sector track record of our new partners, will enable uFraction8 to grow faster than ever before,” said Ms Tomecka, a winner of the 2018 AccelerateHER Awards for exceptional female business founders. “Our entire team is excited and ready for the hard work ahead in taking the business to the next level and beyond.”
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The company currently employs 15 people, 10 of whom are at a subsidiary that opened in Poland in 2019 with £40,000 of grant support from that country’s local economic development authorities.
Friederike Grosse-Holz, a director at Blue Horizon, said: “uFraction8 is gearing up to provide the technological step changes that are required to unlock low-cost, large-scale production of animal cells and micro-organisms for food applications.
“We believe its innovative approach will enable more efficient bio-manufacturing that is critical to new, sustainable food systems.”
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