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N&O Innovation and Technology Newsletter: October 22, 2021
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One of the most interesting startups in the Triangle at the moment might be a two-year-old biotech firm called Biomilq.
The Durham startup, which has ambitions to make a lab-grown version of breast milk, just raised $21 million in a Series A round from some notable investors, like a Bill Gates-backed environmental group and the parent company of Novo Nordisk.
I spoke with the company’s CEO, Michelle Egger, about the new funding, the purpose of its product and its future.
Philanthropy funds the Innovate Raleigh fellowship. Consider supporting philanthropy-funded journalism by going to www.newsobserver.com/donate
Tech news from the Triangle
Why SAS is increasing its work with some of the Triangle’s promising agtech startups. [N&O]
Will a Morrisville entrepreneur and his edible spoons find success on ABC’s ‘Shark Tank’? [N&O]
Will offshore wind threaten wildlife? A Duke-led team is working to find out [N&O]
Software startup CureMint focusing on dental practices lands $2.2M in new funding. [WRAL]
Agtech startup 5Metis raises $10M. [TBJ]
Cellectis’ gene-therapy facility opens in Raleigh
Cellectis, a French gene therapy company that got $4M in incentives from N.C. in 2018, has opened its new manufacturing facility in North Raleigh, company officials said this week.
Cellectis has promised the state to hire 200 people in Wake County. So far, the facility, which just completed test runs at the manufacturing facility, has hired around 80, said Steve Doares, a former Biogen employee who is now the site lead for Cellectis’ Raleigh site.
Gene-therapy manufacturing has become a growing niche for the Triangle, with a mix of large pharmaceutical firms and startups all expanding here over the past few years.
“Companies have been coming here for the same reason we did,” Doares said. “There’s already an established pharmaceutical, and in particular, biopharmaceutical community here.”
“There is a competition for talent, and that’s always a double edged sword,” he added. “But knowing that there is a community of other companies means it makes it easier to access workers.”
What I’m reading
Buzzards are besieging this NC town. From cannons to horns, nothing scares them off. [N&O]
Home diagnostics company Everly Health acquires fertility startup Natalist. [STAT]
Could PayPal and Pinterest build a shopping super app? [Protocol]
Facebook could be planning a renaming, akin to Google’s move to create Alphabet. [Verge]
Amazon Workers on Staten Island Aim for Union Vote. [NYT]
Plaid Pushes Into Payments Business After Scuttled Visa Deal. [WSJ]
Other Triangle business
Durham high-rise condo hits the market at $3.4 million. [N&O]
Amedeo’s, a shrine to NC State fandom and Italian food, mourns passing of its namesake. [N&O]
Topgolf sets a date for opening its first Triangle facility. Here’s what we know. [N&O]
Let me know what you’re seeing. Email me at zeanes@newsobserver.com. Tweet me @zeanes. Call me at 919-829-4516.
Zachery Eanes is the Innovate Raleigh reporter for The News & Observer and The Herald-Sun. He covers technology, startups and main street businesses, biotechnology, and education issues related to those areas.
This newsletter was produced with financial support from a coalition of partners led by Innovate Raleigh as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work. Learn more; go to bit.ly/newsinnovate
