A biotech startup that creates fragrances and foods out of microbugs is now worth over $1 billion after a new financing round.<\/p>\n
Ginkgo Bioworks, a Boston-based company incubated by Y Combinator, has authorized an additional $265 million in fundraising that now values it at an estimated $1.3 billion, according to PitchBook.<\/p>\n
Calling itself \u201cthe organism company,\u201d Ginkgo has regularly been heralded as one of the more exciting young companies in synthetic biology, and the large fundraising round suggests that it has plenty of runway to keep developing new products.<\/p>\n
The company declined to comment. The new financing was unearthed from a fundraising document obtained by PitchBook.<\/p>\n
The company was valued in June of last year at only $450 million \u2014 previous backers have included Baillie Gifford, Viking Global Investors and the U.S. Department of Defense.<\/p>\n
Ginkgo is closely associated with the prestigious Y Combinator, which made the startup its first biotech investment, and YC\u2019s president, Sam Altman, who is said to have personally recruited the company to join his program.<\/p>\n