Introducing IndieBio, The World’s First Biotech Accelerator For Synthetic Biology

IndieBio, SOSV’s biotech accelerator, welcomed its seventh class on Tuesday, and the 14 startup founders took the stage in San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts to pitch their innovative work.

SOSV is an accelerator that runs 8 programs across 4 continents. IndieBio, SOSV’s biotech accelerator, welcomed its seventh class on Tuesday, and the 14 startup founders took the stage in San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts to pitch their innovative work.

It was IndieBio’s Demo Day, and not a single hand went up when SOSV founder Sean O’Sullivan asked who had been to one before. He explained that all accelerators have a Demo Day at the end, where founders present onstage to investors. SXSW Innovations Award winners were from recent classes in 2015 (Geltor) and 2018 (Moolec Science).

IndieBio has been called “Y Combinator for biology,” with a focus on building biotech startups that have a societal impact.

IndieBio is a biotech accelerator for startups working in synthetic biology—the use of engineering principles to design and build biological systems. By combining the latest tools in DNA synthesis, gene editing and machine learning, IndieBio startups are producing new medicines, foods and materials that will change our world for the better.

IndieBio is part of SOSV, one of the world’s leading venture capital firms with $700 million in assets under management. SOSV has a global network of startup accelerators including Highway1 (hardware), RebelBio (life sciences) HAX (hardware), Chinaccelerator (software/web), and MOX (mobile). SOSV’s mission is to invest in entrepreneurs who are building the future.

For example, those in BioCellection are working on recycling unwieldy materials such as Styrofoam.

Another team, BioCellection, is working on recycling difficult-to-manage materials such as Styrofoam and other plastics. To do this, they use a combination of chemistry and machine learning to create supplies that can be used by the apparel industry. Their goals are twofold: they want to help the environment by addressing an extremely harmful type of waste while also providing new opportunities in an industry that’s been shaken in recent years. The company was co-founded by Miranda Wang, a bioengineering graduate from the University of Pennsylvania; Jeanny Yao; and Emily Mountz, who graduated from MIT with experience in lab work.

The team at Silo Wellness is bringing affordable treatment to those suffering from PTSD through VR therapy.

According to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) statistics, about 8 million people in the United States suffer from PTSD in any given year. Silo Wellness, one of the companies participating in IndieBio’s accelerator program this summer, wants to make it easier for those suffering from PTSD to get affordable treatment. With its virtual reality therapy, users can immerse themselves in a virtual environment–a safe space–to work through their trauma.

By using VR as a therapeutic tool, patients with PTSD can learn how to self-regulate and be more resilient against the effects of their illness. The average person needs approximately 20 hours of treatment before they are ready for exposure therapy with traditional cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)–Silo Wellness has had 100% success rate in less than four hours of VR treatment.

Since launching in 2014, IndieBio has supported 85 companies and raised $213 million in follow-on capital.

IndieBio has been called “Y Combinator for biology.” Since launching in 2014, IndieBio has supported 85 companies and raised $213 million in follow-on capital. The accelerator gives scientists the resources they need to make their ideas a reality; it provides them with funding, lab space, and mentorship. In this way, IndieBio has become a source of cutting-edge ideas that have started to dominate the biotech world.

Today’s slate of presenters offers developments in cancer detection, nutritional supplements and more.

Today’s slate of presenters offers developments in cancer detection, nutritional supplements and more.

The startups presenting today include:

• Max Testa, a company that wants to use genetics to optimize athletic performance, for example by providing insights about how an athlete’s body responds to training or how well they recover from a workout.
• Iovance Biotherapeutics, which uses the patient’s own T lymphocytes as a treatment for melanoma and other cancers. The company has raised $24 million in venture capital funding since it was founded in 2011.
• NanoCellect, whose technology can sort populations of cells based on size and electronic properties by applying voltages through different electrodes of varying sizes and densities. The technology is used for high-throughput screening applications as well as product development for pharmaceutical companies and cell therapy companies.

You can watch the livestream of the event here beginning at 1 p.m. Pacific Time/4 p.m. Eastern Time.

You don’t have to be in San Francisco to see the live event—here’s how you can watch the livestream of IndieBio Demo Day today. The event will begin at 1 p.m. Pacific Time/4 p.m. Eastern Time, and you can watch it above (check back shortly before then).

You’ll hear 14 startups present their companies, ranging from animal-free agriculture to personalized cancer vaccines. We’ve covered all of these startups on TechCrunch over the last few months — here’s a rundown of this year’s cohort:

IndieBio is giving these cutting edge ideas a home

IndieBio is giving these cutting edge ideas a home by providing four months of biotech mentorship, funding and lab space for companies that can scale quickly. The focus is on the societal impact of these startups, and the quality of their work has attracted more than $100 million in follow-on investments.

The program’s first cohort helped more than 20 companies raise over $38 million in seven months. Halfway into the second year, they have 12 startups moving toward product launch – including food (meat grown in labs), medicine (new antibiotics and cancer treatment) and cosmetics (plant-based dyes).

This year, IndieBio is growing its accelerator to two locations: San Francisco and Cork, Ireland.

Bottom Line

The future of synthetic biology is bright. Synthetic biology allows us to use advancements in engineering and genomics to reengineer living organisms so they produce new drugs, food, or materials. And IndieBio’s accelerator program is an interesting case study for the future of biotech startups.