Bringing semiconductor tech to DNA synthesis, Evonetix secures £20 million

Cambridge-based spin-out company Evonetix has raised £20 million in a Series B funding round that’s aimed at helping the company scale up the commercialisation of its DNA synthesis chip technology.

The round was led by existing investor Foresite Capital, with Molten Ventures, Morningside, DCVC, Cambridge Consultants, Civilization Ventures, and Providence participating. In total, Evonetix has garnered over £44 million.

“This substantial investment round demonstrates continued confidence in the progress of our technical development and its potential to revolutionise the accessibility of gene synthesis,” said Evonetix CEO Colin McCraken. “Evonetix is in a very exciting phase, having recently opened our early access program. This investment will support us as we execute on our commercial strategy to put benchtop gene synthesis in the hands of users.”

According to the company, their desktop DNA synthesis platform will provide the ability to synthesise DNA at unprecedented accuracy, scale, and speed, thereby accelerating scientists’ ability to use biology on a scale not currently possible.

The company’s proprietary synthesis process utilises a silicon chip to control the synthesis of DNA at many thousands of independent thermally controlled reaction sites, or ‘pixels’, and their assembly into highly accurate long DNA on the chip surface through the company’s Binary Assembly process. 

In so much, this approach enables the accurate synthesis of thousands of sequences on a single chip, meeting the demand for complex libraries and assembly of long DNA in days rather than weeks, resulting in accelerated research across the field of synthetic biology.

In the words of Evonetix CTO Matt Hays:

On the investment, Molten Ventures’ Principal Nelly Markova comments, “Molten has been a big supporter of Evonetix from the early days. We are delighted with the huge progress the company has made towards revolutionising the gene synthesis process and look forward to continuing our partnership.”