Zymergen Announces $130m In Series B Funding, Led By Softbank

Zymergen, a technology company unlocking the power of biology, announced that it has raised $130M in Series B funding led by SoftBank. The round also includes prior lead investor Data Collective/ as well as return investors True Ventures, AME Cloud Ventures, DFJ, Innovation Endeavors, Obvious Ventures, and Two Sigma Ventures.

New investors include Iconiq Capital, Prelude Ventures, and Tao Capital Partners. Zymergen also announced two additions to its Board of Directors: former U.S. Secretary of Energy and Nobel laureate Dr. Steven Chu, and SoftBank Group International Managing Director Deep Nishar, previously a longtime senior executive at Google (GOOG) and LinkedIn (LNKD).

Zymergen has developed a proprietary platform, which uses robots and machine learning to engineer microbes faster, more predictably, and to a level of performance previously unattainable. These microbes, and the products they produce, have broad applications across industries such as chemicals and materials, agriculture, and healthcare.

Zymergen works with customers in these industries to improve the economics of existing products, bring new products to market faster, and to develop entirely new products.