Award-winning Newcastle University spin-out, NunaBio, has raised £6.5m of investment from existing and new investors in a round led by Northstar Ventures who have invested across multiple funds, including this first investment from the new North East Spinout Inspire Fund, the North Est Innovation Fund and the Northstar EIS Growth Fund. A mix of institutional and angel investors from both sides of the Atlantic contributed to the balance of the round. These include HIT Investments from the US, the British Business Bank-backed Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II via Maven Capital Partners and a newly formed syndicate of North East angels. Existing investors Ascension Ventures and Pioneer Group also participated.
The £22.5m North East Spinout Inspire Fund is backed by the universities of Durham, Newcastle, Northumbria, Sunderland and Teesside, as well as The North East Combined Authority (via the North East Fund). It has been set up to commercialise the research and innovation emerging from the North East’s five universities.
The investment will enable NunaBio to capitalise on its ground-breaking enzymatic DNA manufacturing platform. The company’s aim is to address the worldwide shortage of high fidelity synthetic DNA with production at a pace, scale and cost unmatched in the industry. It is an ambition that has gained them international interest as demand for DNA surges, propelled by advances in personalised medicine, mRNA vaccines, diagnostics, synthetic biology, agricultural biotechnology and emerging fields like DNA based data storage. Traditional chemical and biological manufacturing methods simply cannot keep pace and generate high volumes of hazardous waste.
NunaBio’s proprietary enzymatic synthesis platform offers a scalable, sustainable alternative. Using a cell free process, NunaBio can rapidly manufacture high fidelity DNA of virtually any length, complexity or structure. The platform can generate sophisticated DNA formats that are nigh impossible for traditional suppliers to produce at scale. With 80% of the world’s DNA manufacture controlled by a single country, NunaBio being the only UK company with this capability is of strategic importance.
Recently, the company has made rapid commercial and technological progress. and is currently concentrating on building strategic partnerships with key industry-related players. NunaBio’s progress has been driven by a highly skilled leadership team, a strong intellectual property position and a growing customer base. This latest funding round strengthens NunaBio’s ability to capitalise on a fast expanding market, matchless technical capabilities and increasing commercial momentum. NunaBio has the potential to become a key supplier of synthetic DNA, unlocking critical innovation across numerous industries.
Joe Hedley, CEO, NunaBio says: “This investment marks an important step in scaling a fundamentally new approach to DNA manufacturing. Our focus is on enabling DNA that others cannot produce and translating that capability into a robust, industrial platform.
“Our long-term vision is a globally deployable network of DNA micro-foundries—compact, automated production units applying semiconductor-style manufacturing principles to biology. By standardising and modularising production, we can deliver scalable, high-performance DNA manufacturing without the constraints of traditional approaches.”
Alex Buchan, Investment Director, Northstar Ventures says: “The North East has a growing reputation as hub for synthetic biology, a foundational technology reshaping global healthcare, industrial productivity and food security. NunaBio is an integral part of this cluster and has the capability to transform DNA manufacturing economics. Ensuring innovators at this stage have access to the capital required to scale is essential. Northstar Ventures has always been committed to backing the companies that will define the next era of their respective industries.”
