Motif FoodWorks, which traces its roots to MIT, has pocketed $226m in a round backed by returning investor Louis Dreyfus a month after Motif’s parent agreed to a reverse merger.

Motif FoodWorks, a US-based food ingredient developer launched out of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)’s biotech spinout Ginkgo Bioworks, has received $226m in a series B round backed by food and transport conglomerate Louis Dreyfus. Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board and BlackRock co-led the round through Teachers’ Innovation Platform and unnamed funds and accounts, respectively. They were joined by AiiM Partners, Wittington Ventures, Rethink Food, Rage Capital, Rellevant Partners, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, CPT Capital, General Atlantic and Viking Global Investors. Motif is working on plant-based food ingredients created through precision fermentation and advancements in material science. It was spun out of microbe engineering services provider Gingko Bioworks in 2019 and since then has also licensed research from University of Guelph and margarine producer Coasun. The company will look to increase its research and development capabilities, scale and commercialise its technologies, bolster its headcount and expand its facilities. Motif has now raised $345m in funding altogether, it said. It secured $27.5m in a round led by General Atlantic, with participation from CPT Capital, in August 2019. Louis Dreyfus was among the investors in a $90m series A round in February 2019, when dairy cooperative Fonterra, Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Viking Global Investors also injected cash. Meanwhile, Ginkgo Bioworks itself agreed to a reverse merger with special purpose acquisition company Soaring Eagle Acquisition Corp last month in a deal that valued the MIT spinout at $15bn.

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Thierry Heles

Thierry Heles is the editor of Global University Venturing, host of the Beyond the Breakthrough interview podcast and responsible for the monthly GUV Gazette (sign up here for free).