On Thursday, one biotechnology company in the
\nSan Francisco Bay Area announced that it had just completed a massive
\nfundraising round and secured $50 million, thanks to the fact the company has genetically
\nmodified brewer\u2019s yeast so that it can ferment sugar into cannabinoids.<\/p>\n
We first covered<\/a> the early goings of the California company Demetrix in February. The company was founded by Jay Keasling, a UC Berkeley professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering who also works as a scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Last spring, the renowned scientific journal Nature<\/em> even ran a piece<\/a> on the work Keasling and his peers did, illustrating that the company was already off the ground.<\/p>\n According to Nature<\/em>, \u201cThe hope is that this fermentation process will enable manufacturers to produce THC, CBD and rare cannabinoids that are found in trace amounts in nature more cheaply, efficiently and reliably than conventional plant-based cultivation.\u201d<\/p>\n The coolest thing about this whole concept is We don\u2019t even know the full medical potential of major cannabinoids \u2014 never mind the more obscure ones that Demetrix says it can grow on yeast.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n On July 11, Demetrix announced in a statement<\/a> the new round of funding came from their previous investor, Hong Kong-based Horizons Ventures, and from Tuatara Capital, a cannabis-focused private equity firm.<\/p>\n \u201cHorizons Ventures shares Demetrix\u2019s passion Also worth noting, Horizons Ventures invests far beyond the cannabis industry. The private investment arm of Li Ka-Shing is an investor in big tech players like Facebook, Spotify, Siri, Zoom, Impossible Foods and Perfect Day. Ka-Shing is 90 years old and the 30th richest person on the planet, having built his wealth<\/a> as the world\u2019s leading port investor, developer and operator of the largest health and beauty retailer in Asia and Europe. His sons, who just took over the family business last year<\/a>, may end up being some of the leading pharmaceutical cannabinoid investors on the planet.<\/p>\n If Demetrix is right, basing their claim off a number by Ackrell Capital, the global market for cannabinoids will be worth $100 billion by 2029. The number seems far from outlandish when you consider that the global pharmaceutical industry is expected to be valued<\/a> at $1.2 trillion by 2024. We don\u2019t even know the full medical potential of major cannabinoids \u2014 never mind the more obscure ones that Demetrix says it can grow on yeast.\u00a0 <\/p>\n Demetrix CEO Jeff Ubersax said in the statement Kris Krane, who founded the cannabis industry group 4Front Advisors<\/a> in 2011 and currently serves on the board of directors for the National Cannabis Industry Association, says that the large investment in Demetrix is risky, but could have large potential.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s new science,\u201d Krane told Cannabis Now. TELL US,<\/strong> would you consume cannabinoids grown with yeast?<\/p>\n The post Company Looking to \u2018Brew\u2019 Cannabinoids Secures $50 Million Investment<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, one biotechnology company in the San Francisco Bay Area announced that it had just completed a massive fundraising round and secured $50 million, thanks to the fact the company has genetically modified brewer\u2019s yeast so that it can ferment sugar into cannabinoids. We first covered the early goingsContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[50,3944,505,11564,170,8091,5694],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36793"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36793"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36794,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36793\/revisions\/36794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nnot necessarily the idea of brewing major cannabinoids like THC or CBD, but
\npumping out the stuff we only find trace amounts of in the plant. However, it
\nappears that Keasling is pretty hyped on the major cannabinoids, too.<\/p>\n\n
\nfor unlocking the potential of natural ingredients for customers around the
\nworld via its cutting-edge synthetic biology work, a field that we truly
\nbelieve will bring a seismic shift to the world,\u201d Patrick Zhang of Horizons
\nVentures said in the statement. \u201cCannabinoids hold tremendous promise for
\nimproving human health, and Demetrix is uniquely positioned to bring these
\ncompounds to market in a cost-efficient way. We\u2019re excited and proud to be part
\nof this journey.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nthe company\u2019s biggest advantage \u201cis access to an exclusive license on
\nKeasling\u2019s research from Berkeley. The technology Keasling developed gives the
\ncompany a unique ability to isolate and develop new cannabinoids and start
\nscreening them for utility.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cAnd there may be competition. So [it\u2019s] hard to call it a stable investment.
\nBut clearly, way fewer people are attempting this than growing flower. And the
\npotential market is massive. Pharmaceutical cannabinoids are much more likely to
\nbe grown this way than in flower.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
\nRead More: Company Looking to \u2018Brew\u2019 Cannabinoids Secures Million Investment<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"