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Biotech startup String has raised $20 Mn in its Series B funding round led by Woodside Energy, a subsidiary of global energy company Woodside Energy Group Ltd.

New and existing investors including Ankur Capital, Dare Ventures, Redstart and Zenfold Ventures participated in the funding round.  

String will use the fresh capital to drive the market growth of its products and strengthen its decarbonisation impact. Besides, the startup has also inked a strategic development agreement with Woodside Energy. 

Commenting on the fundraising, Meg O’Neill, CEO of Woodside Energy said, “Our investment in String Bio builds on our ability to potentially abate greenhouse gasses through the conversion of carbon into useful products. String Bio’s technology could be used to recycle methane at Woodside facilities and also be deployed at third-party sites with available biomethane.”

Founded in 2013 by Vinod Kumar and Dr. Ezhil Subbian, String Bio creates sustainable solutions for diverse sectors. It primarily manufactures raw materials for animal nutrition, agriculture, human nutrition and personal care sectors that are derived using a sustainable process. 

Vinod Kumar, cofounder and managing director of String Bio said, “Our fundamental ethos is to enable supply and establish demand for our diverse product portfolio. The partnership with Woodside will be a defining milestone to enable carbon-friendly products in the global marketplace.”

String manages an IP-protected platform called String Integrated Methane Platform (SIMP), which manufactures high-quality ingredients via methane. Its platform leverages advances in synthetic biology, fermentation technology, chemistry and process engineering. 

In the biotechnology sector, String competes with the likes of Bugworks Research, Zaara Biotech, and Immuneel Therapeutics. 

According to a report, the Indian biotechnology sector, which was estimated at $63 Bn in 2019, is to reach $150 Bn by 2025 at a CAGR of 16.4%. 

Presently, India has over 2,700 biotech startups and more than 2,500 biotech companies working in the country, Jitendra Singh, the Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, said.

Recently, biotech startups such as Transcend International-backed Zaara Biotech, Lightrock India-Bugworks Research and Eight Roads Ventures-led Immuneel Therapeutics bagged funding.