NEW TECH FOODS

Biotech company Van Heron Labs has announced the successful completion of its seed round, raising $1.1 million, led by FoodLabs.

Van Heron Labs uses techniques such as genomics, bioinformatics, artificial intelligence and nanotechnology to improve how cells are cultured and harnessed.

The Texas, US-based company is on a mission to create and commercialise new technologies that address critical industrial and global challenges, serving in the emerging bioeconomy and enabling a healthier future for both humans and the planet.

Van Heron Labs will use the capital to drive efforts in improving its technologies and existing offerings, helping to bring new innovative technologies to its customers.

Van Heron Labs’ technologies improve cell health, proliferation and productivity – often by fold-changes. The company says such improvements will help many industries, such as cell therapy, cell-based meat and biomaterials, to commercialise and scale.

Its automated flagship platform is said to be the first technology to comprehensively determine the optimal composition of the nutrients that cells need, based on genetic data. The novel platform uses bioinformatics and advanced AI tools to determine optimal cellular fuel, including a full range of macro and micronutrients. Physiologically and metabolically matched cellular fuel optimises processes and cell systems at the molecular level.

The Van Heron Labs team uses this technology to personalise its customers’ culture media to unlock better quality, efficiency and scalability.

Rebecca Vaught, founder and CEO of Van Heron Labs, said: “Van Heron Labs looks forward to using the generous support and funding from FoodLabs to advance our goal of making biological innovation better, faster and cheaper. By fuelling the new bioeconomy, we feel that our customers can optimise their systems and bring technologies to overcome critical global challenges to market."

Julius Strauss, investor at FoodLabs, added: “We are excited to lead the funding round in Van Heron Labs, as we firmly believe that its innovative approach to optimising cellular nutrition has the potential to revolutionise multiple industries, including biopharma, biomanufacturing, food-tech and agriculture. We are excited to be partnering with Vaught and her team as they continue to push the boundaries of innovation in the bioeconomy.”

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