NEW YORK – Ginkgo Bioworks today announced a $290 Series E financing round from new and prior investors.
New investors include funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates. All major existing investors participated in the round, Ginkgo said. The firm said it would use the funding to grow its cell programming platform.
"Today's fundraise will allow us to expand our technology and continue our drive to bring biology into every physical goods industry — materials, clothing, electronics, food, pharmaceuticals, and more," Ginkgo CEO and Cofounder Jason Kelly said in a statement. "They are all biotech industries but just don't know it yet."
The firm also said it has two new partnerships with startup accelerators Y Combinator and Petri, where companies can access the Ginkgo platform in exchange for equity.
With the newest round of funding, Ginkgo has raised a total of $719 million. Past investors include Y Combinator's Continuity Fund, Bill Gate's Cascade Investment, General Atlantic, Senator Investment Group, Baillie Gifford, Viking Global, and Allen & Company.
Ginkgo acquired DNA synthesis firm Gen9 in 2017 and has made investments into other firms, including Synlogic and a $100 million ag-bio co-venture with Bayer.
Ginkgo noted that over the past two years it has entered into a $160 million antibiotic discovery partnership with Roche and a $122 million deal to produce cultured cannabinoids with Cronos, a cannabis firm.