Ellex Raidla has advised Specialist VC on leading the EUR 380,000 pre-seed investment round for Estonian biotechnology start-up Gearbox Biosciences. UniTartu Ventures also participated in the round.
According to Ellex, Gearbox Biosciences – a company founded by University of Tartu researchers – also received research grants which, together with the financing round, amount to over half a million euros.
Gearbox Biosciences is developing a novel technology that makes it possible to produce proteins without the use of antibiotics using industrial biotechnology. "The company promises to help reduce the use of antibiotics outside of medicine and the risk of the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria," Ellex reported. "According to the company, the technology being created can be used, for example, to produce diabetes drug insulin. It has not been possible to do this without living cells until now and, classically, large amounts of antibiotics are used for this. However, the new approach makes it possible to dispense with antibiotics and increase production efficiency."
The Ellex team included Partner Antti Perli and Counsel Rutt Vark.
The firm did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.
