Prolific Machines secures $55M Series B to innovate lab-grown proteins for food and medicine

Prolific Machines Unveils Revolutionary Bioreactor Technology

Two years ago, a groundbreaking technology aiming to transform industries like cultivated meat was introduced. Today, the Emeryville, California-based company announced its readiness to launch a bioreactor engineered to enable this evolution. Founded in 2020 by Deniz Kent, Max Huisman, and Declan Jones, the company is dedicated to pioneering efficient and sustainable methods for food and medicine production. Central to their innovation is the ability to grow and control cells without costly recombinant proteins, which are typically used in cellular biology to produce everything from immunotherapy antibodies to nutritional proteins in infant formula.

The founders highlight the inefficiencies and costs associated with current molecular methods. Deniz Kent explains the challenges with an analogy: akin to cream dissolving in coffee, cells in bioreactors move unpredictably, leading to inconsistent results. Current cell growth methods lack precision, as today's outcomes might differ vastly from those of tomorrow, hindering optimization, as machines cannot easily interpret these processes.

“For the last few decades, molecules such as chemicals or proteins have been used to control cells in bioreactors, often with unreliable outcomes,” Kent notes. Prolific Machines proposes a novel solution: employing light instead of molecules. Light, already utilized in various applications from food production with microalgae to contamination detection, offers significant advantages. According to Kent, light is a readily available and cost-effective commodity. It can be precisely controlled, is consistently reliable over time, and its wavelengths can be tailored for different uses. Understanding light is straightforward for machines as it involves straightforward electronics running through LED circuits.

Introducing Prolific Machines’ Bioreactor

Prolific Machines’ bioreactors are poised to aid customers in efficiently biomanufacturing valuable bioproducts, such as nutritional proteins, disease-fighting antibodies, and cultivated meat. The company provides a suite of genetic tools, including DNA strands that leverage light to, for instance, eliminate growth factors or change cell types. Additionally, they offer two cell lines: a bovine cell chassis for food applications and a Cho cell chassis tailored for pharmaceuticals. Their hardware integrates light into the bioreactors, monitoring its effects on cells, while an advanced software algorithm uses spectral data to determine optimal light patterns.

Securing Funding and Future Plans

This innovative development is backed by $55 million in new Series B financing, raising Prolific Machines’ total funding to $86.5 million. The Series B round, led by the Ki Tua Fund, involves contributions from entities such as Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Mayfield, SOSV, Shorewind Capital, Darco Capital, Conti Ventures, and In-Q-Tel (IQT). This funding will primarily support commercialization and customer acquisition efforts.

“We are transitioning from proving the technology works to distributing it to users,” Kent said. Prolific Machines has initiated engagements with some commercial partners, although these collaborations are yet to be formally announced.