Biotech has long been a bustling sector in the Bay State, with universities, research institutions and startups alike attracting technology and life sciences talent from across the globe. This past week saw several major announcements in the sector. Find out what’s new with the Built In Boston Weekly Refresh.
Solarea Bio raised $15M. A Series B capital raise from lead investor S2G Ventures will help Cambridge-based Solarea Bio enhance its biotech solution. The company works to leverage the microbial diversity of fruits and vegetables for application toward managing inflammatory diseases. The capital will fuel the launch of medical foods bone health and rheumatoid arthritis. [PR Newswire]
Ginkgo Bioworks partnered with Boehringer Ingelheim. Working to develop synthetic pharmaceutical components using processes like fermentation, Gingko signed a collaborative deal to discover new drugs. Under its agreement, pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim has supplied Gingko with $406 million so far to fuel research. The capital will help pay fees for an unspecified number of upcoming projects. [Boston Business Journal]
Boston Tech Quote of the Week
“Boston is a growing area for gaming, with more and more talents trained in the domain. For example, just a couple of weeks ago, I attended the MIT Sloan Gaming Industry Conference. This drew out the best gaming people across the country and revealed the talent pool in the Boston area in the space.”— Nicolas Abelé, SONIX CEO and co-founder
SONIX opens U.S. office. Developed in Switzerland, SONIX is a communications company working to eliminate latency in real-time conversations between e-sports teammates. Its lag reduction software has a range of use cases outside the gaming industry in sectors like remote music collaboration and metaverse virtual reality applications. SONIX plans to expand its team at its new Boston office ahead of its platform’s launch. [Built In Boston]
6 River Systems is under new ownership. Based in Waltham, 6 River Systems is a warehouse automation firm that was acquired by digital commerce platform Shopify back in 2019 for $450 million. Having recently been sold by the Canadian company, 6 River is now owned by Ocado Group, a grocery technology licenser headquartered in the U.K. The move will grant Ocado access to 6 River’s commercial and R&D expertise in various retail sectors. [TechCrunch]
