Danish synthetic biology company Octarine Bio closes €2M fundraising co-led by DSM Venturing and Oskare Capital


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2M EUR was raised in this pre-series A, while the company is currently ramping up to its series A fundraising effort with expected closure during 2023.

The successful completion of the pre-series A round comes as the company achieves a set of milestones with its proprietary cannabinoid lead products demonstrating impressive improvements in vivo, validating the potential of the platform to generate molecules with tailored modes of action.

Nethaji Gallage, founder and CEO of Octarine Bio ApS, is thrilled to be able to close another successful funding round in the current uncertain market conditions:

“I am excited to welcome our new investor, DSM venturing, the venture arm of the global science-based and purpose-led company Royal DSM. They deeply understand Octarine’s technology and its broad market potential. I am also grateful to have strong backing from our founding investor, Oskare Capital, who has continuously supported Octarine in past funding rounds” Gallage said.

Alexandre Ouimet-Storrs, co-founder and managing partner of Oskare is excited to continue supporting Octarine:

“They continue the push to develop their proprietary cannabinoid platform as well as build out their technological platform for other applications. The platform will enable the company and its partners to have novel and superior cannabinoids that can offer groundbreaking solutions in the pharmaceutical and CPG industries. We are also very excited to have Royal DSM join us in this journey,” Ouimet-Storrs said.

Natural bioactives remain a unique source of innovation for health and consumer applications and certain bioactives stand to be game changers in underserved fields. Octarine’s technology platform is built using cutting-edge tools in synthetic biology to combine different genetic elements found in nature to create enhanced products and processes, providing access to new bioactive molecules beyond the reach of nature or man-made techniques. Octarine’s product pipeline aims to expand existing market boundaries by tapping into underexploited or completely new market spaces with broader demands.

About Octarine

Octarine Bio is a world leading Synthetic Biology platform developing superior bioactive molecules targeting critical overlooked areas where traditional technologies have failed to deliver ground-breaking solutions. With a core commitment to transforming and redesigning products and processes with sustainable bio-based solutions, Octarine brings together genetic elements from across the natural world to deliver new bioactive molecules beyond the reach of nature or man-made techniques, providing blue ocean market opportunities to our partners and customers. Octarine’s core programs focus on perfecting novel, and improved cannabinoids and bioactive tryptamines a for a range of applications within human and planetary health.

Octarine was founded in 2018 by Nethaji Gallage (CEO) and Nick Milne (CSO) based on foundational research conducted at the University of Copenhagen and Technical University of Denmark (DTU). Octarine is also an alumnus of the BioInnovation Institute, an initiative run by the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

About DSM venturing

DSM Venturing is the corporate venture arm of Royal DSM. DSM is a global, purpose-led company in Health, Nutrition & Bioscience, applying science to improve the health of people, animals, and the planet. DSM’s purpose is to create brighter lives for all. DSM’s products and solutions address some of the world’s biggest challenges while simultaneously creating economic, environmental, and societal value for all its stakeholders – customers, employees, shareholders, and society at large. The company was founded in 1902 and is listed on Euronext Amsterdam.

About Oskare Fund I ICAV and Oskare Capital SAS

Oskare Fund I is the first AIFMD regulated Venture Capital Fund with an investment focus on innovative companies and teams in Europe working on novel therapeutics that target the endocannabinoid system (medical cannabis and other molecules) and the associated ecosystem of services and products to serve this fast-growing global market. Oskare Capital SA is the fund advisor to Oskare Fund I, which is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland, with Crossroads Capital Management Limited acting as the investment fund manager.

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