International law firm Bird & Bird has advised Biocentis, a life-sciences company at the forefront of genetic innovation, on its $19 million investment round to advance its mission of protecting health, agriculture, and biodiversity from the growing global threats posed by insects.
Biocentis is a spin-out of science powerhouse Imperial College London. Its mission is to harness the power of biology and computation to make insect control more effective, safe and sustainable.
Using a proprietary genome engineering platform, Biocentis develops insects with genetic traits that reduce fertility in target species. When released, these insects mate with wild populations, reducing their size whilst leaving other species and the environment unharmed. Biocentis also leverages artificial intelligence to simulate how biological systems perform in real-world environments, accelerating development and helping decision-makers anticipate emerging insect-borne risks.
The financing includes a $13 million seed equity investment led by The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment (US) and Algebris Investments (Europe), with participation from Neurone, Corbites, Novaterra and a network of entrepreneurs, including the founders of two European tech unicorns. In addition, Biocentis has secured a $6 million award from Wellcome, one of the world’s leading global health foundations.
Biocentis will use this funding to advance its first solutions into field trials across the US, Brazil, and other key markets, while further expanding its technology platform to new applications.
The Bird & Bird team was led by James Baillieu (partner, Corporate) and included Sarah Bratton-Bishop (senior associate, Corporate), Kimberly Tan (associate, Corporate) and Afra Casiraghi (partner, Corporate, Milan). Specialist advice was provided by Sarah Ferguson (partner, Employee Incentives & Benefits), Andrew Rink (senior associate, Employee Incentives & Benefits), David Walder (senior associate, Employee Incentives & Benefits), Mario Subramaniam (partner, Intellectual Property), and Charlotte Getz (associate, Intellectual Property).
James Baillieu, Corporate Partner at Bird & Bird commented: "We are delighted to have advised Biocentis on this impressive seed fundraising, enabling them to advance their pioneering technology to more effectively control insect populations with the aim of protecting health, agriculture and biodiversity. It’s another great example of the excellent work carried out by our market leading venture capital and life sciences practices."
Giorgio Rocca, Co-founder and CEO of Biocentis said: "Insects are vital to our planet, yet some species cause devastating damage, causing almost a million deaths. Our approach is to work with biology, by using insects’ own reproductive instincts to control harmful populations safely and precisely. With our proprietary genome engineering platform, we have developed insects which carry genetic traits designed to reduce fertility within the target species. When released, these insects mate with the wild population, reducing its size while leaving other species and the environment unaffected. We are delighted to have worked with Bird & Bird on this funding round. Their international venture capital expertise, including joined up teams in both the UK and Italy, was instrumental in helping us to successfully close this investment round."
