PR90720

SINGAPORE, July 22, 2021 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

-Responsible consumers and companies are increasingly unwilling to tolerate the

significant environmental impacts associated with natural ingredients sourcing.

-The startup, co-founded by scientist-entrepreneurs, Peyman Salehian, PhD and

Akbar Vahidi, PhD, employs a unique technology platform for the sustainable and

scalable synthesis of natural ingredients.  

-Xora Innovation, the deep science investment platform of Temasek Holdings,

leads the round with participation from SOSV, TI Platform Management, and

Entrepreneur First.

Allozymes(https://www.allozymes.com/), a Singapore-based, synthetic biology

startup, announced today that it has raised US $5 million in a seed financing

round led by Xora Innovation, the deep science investment arm of Temasek

Holdings. SOSV, TI Platform Management, and Entrepreneur First have also joined

the round.

Co-founded by scientist-entrepreneurs Peyman Salehian, PhD and Akbar Vahidi,

PhD, Allozymes plans to disrupt the trillion dollar biomanufacturing sector by

delivering cleaner, greener, sustainably-produced natural ingredients, at

scale, through custom-designed enzymes.

"Think of enzymes as autonomous nano-scale bio-machines that build molecules or

break them down as needed, to provide energy, weaponry and construction

material for living cells. It takes millions of years for nature to evolve

these bio-machines for natural processes like the creation of cheese and wine

but at Allozymes we accelerate the evolution of these bio-machines and engineer

them in a matter of weeks," said Dr. Akbar Vahidi, CTO of Allozymes.

Enzyme engineering is all about finding the right enzyme from a large number of

enzyme variants. Much like searching for a needle in a haystack, this process

has been a major bottleneck for the development of specialty industrial

enzymes. Accordingly, current enzyme engineering processes remain

time-consuming and costly, discouraging wider industrial adoption.

Allozymes' proprietary platform analyzes and maps millions of enzyme variants

per day, boosting the likelihood of developing the most effective,

fit-for-purpose enzyme for a given commercial application. Allozymes has

already demonstrated the ability of their platform to produce novel functional

enzymes through pilot projects with innovative pharma, agri-food, and personal

care companies, in a fraction of the time and cost, compared to robotics

technology. These enzymes include oxidases, reductases, isomerases, and

hydrolases, workhouse enzymes of industrial biotechnology.

The platform is also capable of generating massive enzyme performance datasets,

exponentially larger than competitors.

"We plan to utilize this data for enzyme discovery, design, and optimization.

Ingredient manufacturers would only need to search in our data set to find the

right enzymes for their needs or to quickly improve their available enzymes,"

said Dr. Peyman Salehian, CEO of Allozymes. "Our biotechnology platform enables

the sustainable and economical production of natural ingredients for a broad

array of industrial applications, everything from sweeteners, to natural

colors, to vitamins, personal care and cosmetic ingredients, for a start."

The company plans to use the proceeds of the seed financing to establish its

Singapore-based manufacturing and business infrastructure and prioritize the

strong demand it is seeing in the ASEAN and broader APAC region.

"Whether for food, fashion, fuels, or electronics, Allozymes enables commercial

access to custom enzymes at unprecedented speed, scale and quality," said Donna

See, CEO of Xora Innovation. "Embedded in the fastest-growing sustainable

products market in the world, Allozymes is well-positioned with a unique value

proposition for ESG-minded partners in the region and beyond."

Duncan Turner, General Partner of SOSV, said, "Engineered enzymes have only

just skimmed the surface of their potential impact. Allozymes exponentially

speeds up enzyme development, enabling engineered enzymes to become a

foundational part of the future of agriculture, biofuels, CPGs, and chemical

processing."

About Allozymes

Founded in 2019, Allozymes(https://www.allozymes.com/) is delivering cleaner,

greener, sustainably-produced natural ingredients, at scale. Through the power

of custom enzymes, we help our partners achieve their objectives for

environmentally-responsible biomanufacturing across a wide range of

applications, including agri-food, biofuels, pharma, and more. For more

information, please visit www.allozymes.com.

SOURCE:  Allozymes