Zymergen develops biomanufacturing technologies to create novel biologically‑based chemicals and materials, including its Hyaline film. The company says the new capital will accelerate manufacturing of Hyaline, which it expects to see in commercial products as soon as next year. Zymergen has partnerships with Sumitomo and FMC to bring its biologically‑based chemicals to market. CEO Josh Hoffman framed the company’s mission as producing high‑performance products that reduce environmental impacts from manufacturing and transportation. The articles note current investors are returning and that Zymergen expects to raise additional capital in Q4 as part of its Series D. Zymergen designs and engineers microbes (yeast and bacteria) to create molecules and materials for a wide array of industries, from pharmaceuticals to flexible OLEDs. The company uses advanced computing, machine learning and robotics to accelerate discovery and reduce human error. It charges customers a subscription fee plus a share of the value created, and reports its partners have sold roughly $500 million worth of products made with Zymergen microbes in the last couple of years. Zymergen occupies a 301,000-square-foot campus in Emeryville, Calif., and has grown to about 600 employees. Leadership says the company is starting to see meaningful revenue and plans to invest in producing new products untethered to petroleum-based manufacturing. The firm positions its data and automation as difficult for competitors to replicate and faces peers such as Ginkgo Bioworks. Zymergen engineers genetically altered microbes to create new materials and to develop improved yeast strains for foods and fragrances. The company previously invested in automation, buying robots to scale microbe production during its last funding round. CEO Josh Hoffman said the new funding will be used to hire staff, add customers, and invest for the long term. Zymergen works with Fortune 500 companies and says its platform can materially improve the economics of large, mature businesses. The company raised $130 million in a Series B led by SoftBank to continue growth. Zymergen operates in a competitive space alongside firms such as Ginkgo Bioworks and Novozymes. Zymergen programs microbes to manufacture high-value chemicals and novel materials using biology-driven processes. The company combines robotic automation, proprietary machine learning software, and computer analytics to advance industrial microbiology. It engineers microbes to produce commercial molecules and offers these to several Fortune 100 companies. Zymergen emphasizes creating essential chemicals and novel materials from clean, renewable sources. The company was founded in 2013 by CEO Joshua Hoffman and is based in Emeryville, California. In June 2015 it completed a $44m Series A financing.

Total raised

$874M

Funding rounds

4

Latest round

Series D

Latest activity

Sep 2020