A biotech startup headquartered in Durham has added fresh funding to its seed round.
The company, Tiamat Sciences, this month announced a $2 million seed extension to a financing round first disclosed in 2021. The company is developing animal-free recombinant proteins that can be used in cellular agriculture, regenerative medicine and vaccine production.
This additional funding brings Tiamat's seed round total to $5.4 million after the company disclosed its initial $3 million raise in November 2021.
Investment firm 8090 Industries led the extension round, which included participation from True Ventures, Social Impact Capital, Cantos, Portfolia, Alexandria, Siddhi Capital, Sara Murray, Seed Folio, Sustainable Food Ventures and Exponential Impact.
Tiamat says the funding "will accelerate product validation in the cellular agriculture and regenerative medicine markets and establish strategic partnerships with industry leaders." The raise comes as Tiamat prepares this month for production to commercialize its products, the company said in a release announcing the raise.
Tiamat is already preparing for its next round of funding this year, which will support site expansions in North Carolina and Belgium.
Tiamat set up headquarters in the Triangle in 2021. CEO France-Emmanuelle Adil previously told the Triangle Business Journal that the company moved from Belgium to North Carolina in order to have to access the state's workforce talent, financing opportunities and other companies working in a similar space.
The new raise comes amid a difficult funding environment for biotech companies.
After reaching record levels in 2021, and starting 2022 strong, life sciences venture capital funding slowed significantly last year. Venture capital funding for the life sciences sector total $35.8 billion in 2022, down about 28 percent from 2021, according to data from the global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK).
