A biotech startup that creates fragrances and foods out of microbugs is now worth over $1 billion after a new financing round. Ginkgo Bioworks, a Boston-based company incubated by Y Combinator, has authorized an additional $265 million in fundraising that now values it at an estimated $1.3 billion, according to PitchBook. Calling itself “the organism company,” Ginkgo has regularly been heralded as one of the more exciting young companies in synthetic biology, and the large fundraising round suggests that it has plenty of runway to keep developing new products. The company declined to comment. The new financing was unearthed from a fundraising document obtained by PitchBook. The company was valued in June of last year at only $450 million — previous backers have included Baillie Gifford, Viking Global Investors and the U.S. Department of Defense. Ginkgo is closely associated with the prestigious Y Combinator, which made the startup its first biotech investment, and YC’s president, Sam Altman, who is said to have personally recruited the company to join his program. GInkgo and the chemical giant Bayer this year started a new joint company to improve the efficiency of farming and fertilizer. That company raised $100 million in September. This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
Boston biotech Ginkgo Bioworks has raised $265m in a round that gives the firm, incubated at and backed by the Y Combinator, a value of $1.3bn, according to data from Pitchbook. Ginkgo, which uses microbugs to create perfumes and food, is one of the hottest properties in its field, and was valued at $450m in Earlier this year. June 2016, the company partnered with Bayer to form a new venture that aims to optimise farming and fertiliser, and raised $100m in September.