The Venture Codex

Participated · Equity · Apr 2023

Vedanta's lead program, VE303, is an orally administered live biotherapeutic product comprising a defined consortium of eight bacterial strains, developed to prevent recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection. VE303 is produced from pure, clonal bacterial cell banks to yield a standardized powdered drug product and has received FDA Orphan Drug designation (2017) and Fast Track designation (2023). The registrational Phase 3 RESTORATiVE303 trial is randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled with a 2:1 randomization and a primary endpoint of CDI recurrence rate at Week 8. RESTORATiVE303 is enrolling across more than 150 sites in about 20 countries, has passed a DMC interim analysis recommending continuation, and is expected to complete enrollment in H2 2026 with topline data in H1 2027. Vedanta is funding the trial through the recent $60M financing package and supplemental BARDA funding. The company intends the RESTORATiVE303 study to form the basis for a Biologics License Application to the U.S. FDA.

Participated · Equity · Jul 2022

Tropic Biosciences develops gene-edited tropical crops via its proprietary GEiGS® platform, concentrating on banana and rice varieties designed for higher yields, increased disease resistance, and improved sustainability. In 2025 the company launched the first new banana varieties in more than 75 years, including a non-browning banana named one of TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2025 and an extended shelf-life variety that increases green life by 12 days and can reduce waste by up to 50 percent. Tropic has made progress toward resistance to Panama Disease TR4 and shipped plants in 2025 to establish a mother plantation intended to support commercial deployment beginning in 2027. Demand for its new banana varieties has already surpassed supply, and the company has cited significant revenue growth as it scales. Tropic plans to expand its research across its rice portfolio and pursue additional high-impact, climate-resilient crops to address global food security and sustainability challenges.

Participated · Series A · Apr 2022

BCD Bioscience is a biotechnology company that creates precision prebiotics from natural fiber sources, including food waste. The company has a validated prediction and rapid screening platform for assessing prebiotic functional properties, microbial impacts, and postbiotic production. Its technology can produce precision oligosaccharides from most natural fiber sources and delivers deep insights into carbohydrate structure and bacterial utilization. Commercial applications cited include functional foods, medical nutrition, and therapeutics. Future plans described in the article include obtaining regulatory approvals for lead products, upscaling production, and expanding the product pipeline. BCD was founded in 2019 as a UC Davis spin-out and is based in Davis, Calif.

Participated · Series B · Jul 2021

Aleph Farms grows beef steaks from non‑genetically engineered cells isolated from a living cow, producing whole cuts without harming animals. The company released the world’s first cultivated steak in December 2018 and a cultivated ribeye in 2021. Co‑founded in 2017 by Didier Toubia, The Kitchen Hub of the Strauss Group, and Professor Shulamit Levenberg, Aleph Farms is headquartered in Israel. Its global investor network includes L Catterton, DisruptAD (ADQ), BRF, Thai Union and Cargill, and it recently announced an investment from Leonardo DiCaprio, who joined its advisory board. They cite an independent Life Cycle Analysis projecting cultivated beef could reduce climate impact by 92%, air pollution by 93%, use 95% less land and 78% less water versus industrial beef production. Aleph Farms positions its product to deliver familiar meat qualities while eliminating antibiotics and reducing risks of pathogens through an automated, sterile manufacturing process. Aleph Farms grows beef steaks from non-genetically engineered cells isolated from a living cow, producing meat without harming animals and with a reduced environmental impact. The company was co-founded in 2017 by Didier Toubia, The Kitchen Hub of the Strauss Group, and Professor Shulamit Levenberg from the Technion. Aleph is based in Rehovot, Israel. It raised $105M in a Series B to scale up manufacturing and expand operations internationally ahead of an initial market launch planned for 2022. Near-term milestones include scaling up manufacturing, growing operations internationally, and expanding its product lines and technology platform. The company is working with regulatory agencies on its plans for market entry. Aleph Farms produces real meat cuts grown from cow cells and operates a slaughter-free process to make steaks in large, clean bio-farm facilities similar to dairy operations. Its non-GMO technology, co-developed with Professor Shulamit Levenberg of the Technion, isolates the cells responsible for muscle regeneration and grows them outside the animal to form the same muscle tissue typical of steaks. The company intends to use recent funding to accelerate product development and to transform its prototype into a commercial product. Aleph was co-founded by The Kitchen Hub and Didier Toubia, who serves as CEO. The company is based in Ashdod, Israel and has positioned its platform for scale-up in controlled bio-farm environments.

Participated · Series B · May 2021

Cellares builds and operates fully automated platforms for cell therapy manufacturing, including the Cell Shuttle for end-to-end manufacturing and Cell Q for automated in-process and release quality control. The company says its automation delivers industry-leading manufacturing economics, higher process success rates, and the ability to produce up to 10× more cell therapy batches than conventional CDMOs with comparable footprint and headcount. The Cell Shuttle has received the FDA's Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT) designation and the company reports a 100% automation success rate across more than a dozen automated processes. Cellares has achieved clinical validation milestones such as a successful IND amendment enabling active clinical manufacturing on the Cell Shuttle and the dosing of first patients in a partner clinical trial across multiple therapeutic areas and modalities. Headquartered in South San Francisco, Cellares operates a commercial-scale IDMO Smart Factory in Bridgewater, New Jersey, and has additional facilities under construction in Europe and Japan. The company is positioning its network of IDMO Smart Factories to support both clinical and commercial programs and to expand access to cell therapies worldwide.