Bio-start announces the 15 companies that will be joining the UK’s first Engineering Biology accelerator programme

UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund is proud to sponsor the UK's first Engineering Biology accelerator programme announced by Bio-start. Companies have applied from all over the UK to enter the 10 week intensive programme of high-quality mentorship, entrepreneurial training & workshops, with access to a global network of customers and opportunities.

The 15 companies selected to take part in Bio-start reflect the unique diversity present in one of the most exciting and innovative startup sectors in the UK. All the companies are deploying engineering biology to deliver transformation across many different applications and sectors. The companies in the first Bio-start cohort include startups from England, Scotland and Ireland and spinouts from Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Imperial College, Newcastle and Oxford Universities.

All of the companies are now competing for the following prizes.

• First place: £100k cash prize and ~£100k cash equivalent including 6 months’ free use of laboratory space at any of the sponsoring incubators, a ten-week accelerator programme with mentorship, consumables and other professional services.
• Second place: £15k cash from UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund and space in any of the sponsoring incubators for six months.
• Special prizes:
  • £10k cash and IP fees from Imperial Innovations for best idea from an Imperial College based team.
  • 6-months free lab space from UnitDX Science Incubator for the best Bristol based team in the competition

• Colorifix - Eco-friendly, sustainable, biologically derived textile dyes
• Customem - Bio-filtration of micro-pollutants found in industrial waste
• Biotangents - Rapid diagnostic tests for critical animal healthcare
• Entomics Biosystems - High value bio-products from food waste
• EnzBond - Novel biocatalysts for chemical productionEssential DiagnosticsAccessible point of care testing for infections
• Helixworks Technologies - Molecular DNA data storageIDRISBio-design of novel diagnostics and therapeutic antibodies
• LabGenius - Novel biomaterialsLinear DiagnosticsDiagnostic tests for antimicrobial resistant strains
• Nuclera Nucleics - DNA synthesisPhytoform LabsHorticultural plant breedingQuetheraGene therapy for critical unmet medical needs
• VideraBio - Harnessing the productivity of microbial cell factoriesZentraxaPeptide production