Raleigh biotech startup making protein not sourced from animals raises $3.5M

RALEIGH — Jellatech, a Raleigh-based biotech company, has announced an oversubscribed Seed round with $3.5 million raised. According to the SEC filing, eight investors were involved in the equity-only funding.

The company, founded by Stephanie Michelsen in 2020, is focused on protein manufacturing, creating collagen that does not need to be sourced from animals. Applications include food & beverages, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics, among others. Earlier this year the company announced the development of functional human collagen, which can potentially see use in tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and 3D bioprinting, as well as research applications.

The Seed round funding was led by byFounders VC, a Nordic-based firm.

Founder Michelsen received graduate degrees from the Technical University of Denmark and the University of Copenhagen and grew up in Denmark and Sweden alongside a sister, Nikita Michelsen. Nikita has founded an alternative seafood company, Pearlita Foods. Stephanie serves on the Pearlita advisory board.

First, meatless meat; now, plant-based seafood – that’s mission of Raleigh startup Pearlita Foods

According to the press release, funds from this Seed round will be used to continue research and development efforts and scale the company’s cellular agriculture process. Funding will also be earmarked for hiring and commercialization efforts.

“We are very excited to bring in new and existing investors, support, and capital to realize the mission of our company,” said Michelsen. “We have demonstrated the success of our first proteins and now it is time to scale it up and push our technology and capabilities even further.”

The post Raleigh biotech startup making protein not sourced from animals raises $3.5M first appeared on WRAL TechWire.

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