Traditional chemical manufacturing is often derived from petrochemicals, yet current biomanufacturing is limited by fermentation. Debut Biotech wants to deliver on the promise of biology by developing groundbreaking platform tools that overcome these limitations and drive biomanufacturing into new markets.
Debut Biotech
- Leadership
- Dr. Joshua Britton, Dr. Gregory Weiss
- Location
- San Diego, CA
- Sector
- Biology
- Year Invested
- 2021
- Status
- Private
As much as 60% of the material inputs to the global economy can be produced through biomanufacturing
From the very first meeting with Joshua, we were impressed not only by his technical and business leadership but also his hustle and scrappy entrepreneurial nature. He developed the fundamental cell-free technology at Debut in graduate school and learned to build operational models combining scientific inputs and business outcomes to drive quantitative decision-making at the company. We heard stories of Joshua pitching his startup idea while working night shifts as a rideshare driver, which eventually led to his first angel check.
In 2021–just three years after Debut was founded–the company had grown to ~20 FTEs and partnered with multiple companies including DSM, DIC, and Battelle. We participated in the Series A round alongside sector-specific funds focusing on materials, biotech, and food & agriculture. We are excited to work with Debut on unlocking latent markets and providing access to sustainably produced ingredients that no others can.