Specialist VC led a €380k pre-seed investment round to biotech startup Gearbox Biosciences

Ellex law firm in Estonia advised Specialist VC on the investment to biotech startup Gearbox Biosciences.

Gearbox Biosciences, a company founded by University of Tartu researchers, received 380,000 euros from UniTartu Ventures and a group of investors led by Specialist VC. Together with the grants, the total amount of funding is over half a million euros.

Gearbox Biosciences is developing a novel technology that makes it possible to produce proteins without the use of antibiotics using industrial biotechnology. The company promises to help reduce the use of antibiotics outside of medicine and the risk of the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

According to the company, the technology being created can be used, for example, to produce diabetes drug insulin. It has not been possible to do this without living cells until now, and classically, large amounts of antibiotics are used for this. However, the new approach makes it possible to dispense with antibiotics and increase production efficiency.

Specialist VC was advised by Ellex Partner Antti Perli and Counsel Rutt Värk.