Eagle Genomics Announces USD 20M First Close; Scale-up Funding to Accelerate the Application of Microbiome Science for Global 'One Health' Innovation

• Funds to support scale-up, including continued development of AI-augmented knowledge discovery platform, the e[datascientist]™, and continued international expansion
• Platform business focused on bridging the current 'translation gap', addressing critical bottlenecks in the industrial application of microbiome science – from soil, to plant, to farm, to fork, to human, to animals, and environmental health
• Round led by abrdn plc, alongside existing investors, including Environmental Technologies Fund and a consortium led by Granpool Innovative Investments

CAMBRIDGE, England, Oct. 31, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Eagle Genomics, the pioneering TechBio platform business applying network science¹ to biology, today announced the USD 20 million first close of its scale-up funding round. The investment will support further development of the e[datascientist]^{™ 2} platform and will continue to drive expansion into global markets and the deepening of client impact.

The round is being led by abrdn plc, with continued participation from existing investors Environmental Technologies Fund, and a consortium of investors headed by Granpool Innovative Investments. The current funding round will remain open for a further period to enable additional participation up to a further USD 10 million.

Eagle Genomics continues to mature and expand as the leading TechBio company pioneering the application of network science to biological discovery and innovation, across the Food and Nutrition, AgBio, Beauty and Personal Care, and Biopharma industries. The e[datascientist] platform enables enterprise customers to trace digital journeys in data, driving transformative innovations, exploiting leading-edge scientific discovery in silico and supporting differentiated product claims.

Eagle Genomics' purpose is to accelerate the Bioeconomy through the digital reinvention of life sciences R&D, and the Company is increasingly focussed on supporting its customers' aspirations as they address 'One Health' challenges towards more sustainable and impact-oriented innovation and product outcomes. The concept of 'One Health' recognises that the health of humans, animals, and the environment are intimately interconnected, and that the application of technologies to solve in one domain can inspire and enable advances in others. Addressing the 'One Health' opportunity requires a focus on, and a deep understanding of, microbiome³ and host-microbiome interactions as the common denominator across these domains.

Eagle Genomics is the pre-eminent platform business using next-generation graph technology and network science to drive the Bioeconomy. The business problem that the platform solves for its customers is to network their scientific data to support step-change innovation – e.g., understanding new key bio-active ingredients that could deliver health benefits, or targeting a particular health benefit and working backwards through data to identify key ingredients. The technical challenge that Eagle Genomics is solving is to bridge the 'translation gap,' so that scientific knowledge from a range of disparate sources and studies across industries can be applied to deliver robust, scientifically underpinned product claims.

Particular innovation journeys that enable differentiated products and product claims include:

Food and Nutrition: Personalised and functional nutrition; e.g., energy balance, feed efficiency, growth rate, botanicals, food as medicine, precision fermentation, alternative proteins and ingredient design and differentiation.

Beauty and Personal Care: Personalised/stratified cosmetics; e.g., skin, oral, scalp, pre/pro/postbiotics, ingredient manufacturing, cosmeceuticals, and genital health/personal hygiene products.

AgBio: Biofertilizers, microbiome engineering, bioavailability, crops (yield increase, protection, fertility, productivity, climate adaptation/change mitigation), soil treatment, and smart agriculture.

BioPharma: Microbiome therapeutics, anti-microbial resistance, personalised/stratified medicine, therapeutics for gastrointestinal and infectious diseases, immuno-oncology/autoimmune disease and metabolic health.

Anthony Finbow, CEO, Eagle Genomics, said:

"We are the pre-eminent platform business using next-generation graph technology and network science to drive the Bioeconomy. We are seeking to support our enterprise customers as they strive to achieve more sustainable and impact-orientated innovation outcomes. The current scale-up funding will enable us to accelerate the Bioeconomy through the digital reinvention of science."

Alistair Watson, Head of Strategy Innovation - Private Equity, abrdn, stated:

"We believe that Eagle Genomics is poised to support increasing numbers of large enterprise customers with digitising R&D and product innovation activities. This investment will support Eagle Genomics' scale-up while driving further penetration into global markets. It is also pivotal for the wider Bioeconomy, as the importance of microbiome science increases and its applications become more widespread." 

Rob Genieser, Environmental Technologies Fund, commented:

"We are delighted to see Eagle Genomics continue to mature and scale. The timing could not be better, with the world's focus on disease and accelerated in silico innovation. At a time when there is an urgent requirement for systems change to support and protect the Biosphere, Eagle Genomics is helping drive sustainability and impact-focused business outcomes. We wish the team all the best in expanding its reach and deepening its capabilities." 

Notes

1. Network science is the study of complex networks of physical, biological, and social phenomena, and can also be used to explain and deeply understand these phenomena.

2. The e[datascientist]™ is powered by network science and multilayer hypergraphs, applying machine learning and AI to provide a data-driven insight journey into solving complex problems at scale. It integrates active learning at every step of the microbiome innovation journey, from 'descriptive' to 'predictive,' while identifying mechanisms of action. It has been gaining major traction with large household brands as they strive to demonstrate the link between their latest products, microbiome health, and 'One Health' related issues.  

3. The microbiome, the ecosystem of bacteria, fungi and viruses present in virtually all living organisms, is directly linked with health and is proven to be affected by the products we use and consume.

Notes to Editors

About Eagle Genomics 

Eagle Genomics is innovating at the intersection of biology, data sciences and bioinformatics, to accelerate the Bioeconomy through the digital reinvention of life sciences R&D. The company's award-winning AI-augmented knowledge discovery platform, e[datascientist]™, empowers scientists to exploit multi-dimensional data in minutes rather than months, to help companies conduct science-led innovation for next-generation products. It supports the entire innovation workflow - from hypothesis through insight to product claims – helping bring novel, safer and sustainable products to market, faster, across the Food and Nutrition, Beauty and Personal Care, AgBio and BioPharma industries.

Eagle Genomics is forging strategic relationships with leading scientific establishments focused on the microbiome and has helped shape the Microbiome Strategic Roadmap in the UK.  A Cambridge, UK-headquartered business with a global presence, it has sites in London's Knowledge Quarter, Hyderabad India, New York's Genome Center as well as Paris' Station F, Potsdam Science Park, Germany and Kyiv, Ukraine.

Find out more at www.eaglegenomics.com 

About abrdn 

• abrdn is a global investment company that helps clients and customers plan, save and invest for their future.
• abrdn manages and administers £508 billion of assets for clients, and has over 1 million shareholders. (Figures as at 30 June 2022)
• Enabling our clients to be better investors drives everything we do. Our business is structured around three vectors – Investments, Adviser and Personal – focused on their changing needs.
• Our investments solutions are built on the strength of our insight – generated from wide-ranging research, worldwide investment expertise and local market knowledge.
•  Our teams collaborate across regions, asset classes and specialisms, connecting diverse perspectives, working with clients to identify  investment opportunities that suit their needs.
• Our Investments vector manages £386 billion on behalf of institutional, wholesale and insurance clients (as at 30 June 2022) with support and expertise from 800 investment professionals across 30 locations.

About ETF Partners

Founded in 2006, ETF Partners supports talented entrepreneurs and management teams with investment capital and experience. Our funds come from institutional investors, global corporations, and family offices. We create value by investing in technology companies that make a difference. We call it Sustainability through Innovation.

Media contact 

Dr Priya Kalia
Global Communications
Eagle Genomics 
priya.kalia@eaglegenomics.com 

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