TurtleTree, a Singaporean biotech startup with a growing presence in Yolo County, has raised $30 million from investors, as the first part of its funding round comes to a close.
The company announced the successful first tranche of its Series A funding round on Monday. It was led by Luxembourg-based Verso Capital.
“After developing a deep understanding of the company and its team, we are confident in TurtleTree’s potential as a cell-based technology platform that will transform the food industry,” Verso Managing Partner Julien Machot said, in a news release. “Verso Capital will share its wealth of knowledge in corporate finance and operations to help the company validate its unit economics and the overall business plan with its very first key accounts.”
TurtleTree is studying how to grow nutrients found in milk in a lab. For its first phase of product development, the company will offer ingredients for other companies to use in food and nutrition products.
To date, the company has raised $40 million from investors.
“We are incredibly touched by the degree of faith all our investors have placed in TurtleTree and our unique vision of food,” TurtleTree CEO Fengru Lin said, in a statement. “Amplified by the relentless backing of parties like Verso Capital, the Series A funds will allow us to scale up our processes and come a huge step closer to creating a new era of sustainable nutrition.”
Company spokesperson Rita Huang said the funding will help the company expedite bringing its ingredient blend to market, and build out the West Sacramento research and development facility the company announced in October.
“The majority of the funding will be contributed to the R&D facility,” Huang said.
She said the company plans to move into the 24,000-square-foot building on Ramco Street some time next year.
In the meantime, the company is ramping up hiring. Between its Singapore and Yolo County operations, the company has 40 employees, with plans to double that before the end of the year. It is also planning to launch its second tranche of Series A funding soon, and working to get regulatory approvals to bring its first products to market.
The company was founded in 2019 by technology entrepreneurs Lin and Max Rye. This summer, it opened its Yolo County headquarters at the Lab@AgStart incubator in Woodland.
