Danish biotech platform Enduro Genetics closes first funding round and strengthens team to broadly enable large-scale biological production
Copenhagen, Denmark, 7th April 2022
News
Today, the Danish biotech company, Enduro Genetics, announces the closure of its first funding round, led by NOON Ventures. Enduro Genetics is a spinout from the Technical University of Denmark enabling large-scale fermentation.
Founded by Peter Rugbjerg and Christian Munck, the company is one of the latest successes evolving from the European life science incubator BioInnovation Institute in Copenhagen.
Relying on living organisms, green biological production can be difficult to scale to large markets. This broad challenge constrains the global transition to more bioproduction of animal-free foods, materials and more. Enduro ‘stabilizes’ biological production by adding production dependence to cells using synthetic biology. Through this disruptive technology for stabilizing productive cells, Enduro Genetics has shown it can increase the competitiveness of green bioproduction. In connection with the investment Enduro Genetics strengthens the board of directors. Former Novozymes EVP Thomas Videbæk and former Novozymes VP Ejner Bech Jensen join the board. Former deputy CEO of the Novo Nordisk Foundation Niels Peder Nielsen becomes chairman.
We are really excited about this key step towards our dream for Enduro Genetics - contributing to the green transition by making large-scale biomanufacturing competitive. The engaged partnership with NOON Ventures, combined with the strong competences on the board of directors, strengthens our ability to develop and commercialize the technology towards significantly reducing biotech production costs
says Peter Rugbjerg, CEO and co-founder of Enduro Genetics.
Enduro works with bioproduction companies to allow them to scale up bioproduction better. A growing palette of everyday items from foods to materials can now be made by biology and new animal-free food ingredients are around the corner. However, central to biological mass manufacturing is the challenge of biological production stability, which until now has been limited by necessary extensive case-by-case research.
“At this important moment, Enduro Genetics addresses a central problem for the fermentation industry and has the potential to become a key enabler of the global fermentation revolution vital to many industries such as alternative proteins, pharma, and bio-materials” says Thomas Videbæk, new board member.
”We are very impressed with the team and the potential the technology holds,” says Theis Malmborg, Founding partner at NOON Ventures. "Enduro Genetics is a prime example of the world-class technology coming out of Danish research institutions these years, addressing climate challenges”.
“The investment by NOON Ventures and the new board provides a strong basis for fulfilling the exciting potential of Enduro Genetics. The board and I very much look forward to support Peter and the team in the development and commercialization journey ahead. We have already started recruiting both technical and commercial profiles eager to take part in the exciting journey ahead of us”, adds Niels Peder Nielsen, chairman.
Photo: The new management and board team behind Enduro Genetics is a blend of Danish biotech seniors, the active investors, and the founding inventors. From left: Peter Rugbjerg (CEO), Niels Peder Nielsen (chairman of board), Thomas Videbæk, Ejner Bech Jensen, Theis Malmborg and Christian Munck.
About Enduro Genetics
Enduro Genetics a technology provider committed to enabling large-scale fermentations. The company increases the competitiveness of current and future green bioproduction using its proprietary synthetic-biology technology Enduro Sense that self-selects the best cell variants. Spun out from the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, Enduro has incubated at the BioInnovation Institute in Copenhagen and received funding from the Innovation Fund Denmark.
About NOON Ventures
NOON Ventures is a Copenhagen-based VC fund established in late 2020 investing in proven transformative technologies with the potential to impact environmental or climate challenges. The fund invests fewer companies and work closely with each of them – a fundamentally different approach than traditional early-stage investors. The aspiration is to be true co-developers of businesses alongside the entrepreneurs, and therefore dedicate the time required to build lasting businesses.
Contact information
For any inquiries, please contact Peter Rugbjerg at pr@endurogenetics.com or +45 9393 5580.
For more information, please visit our website: enduro.bio