Synthetic Biology Innovator Yuanyi Bio Secures RMB 50 Million Pre-A Round, Partners with Guoyao Taiji and Others for Commercial Expansion

VCBeat has learned that Yuanyi (Tianjin) Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Yuanyi”)“Yuan Yi Bio”) recently announced that it would collaborate with a leading enterprise in China’s pharmaceutical industrySinopharm TaijiSigning a Biologics Collaboration Agreement, both parties will leverage their complementary strengths and share resources to carry out a series of collaborations, including custom development of engineered bacterial strains, and optimization of manufacturing and fermentation processes.

Yuan Yi Bio completed a RMB 50 million Pre-A financing round in 2022, which was led byMARATHON VENTURE PARTNERSLead Investor,Beiyang HaitangCo-investment. The funds will be used to develop highly productive cell factories and provide one-stop solutions, including integrated strain development, fermentation process optimization, industrial-scale fermentation production, product separation and purification, and end-product development.

Yuanyi Biotech is an R&D and manufacturing company dedicated to leveraging leading synthetic microbiology technologies as its core, focusing on the development of cutting-edge synthetic biology solutions. Anchored in the diversification of the synthetic biology industry, the company concentrates on applications such as pharmaceutical ingredient supply, medical aesthetics formulations, functional feed and crop protection raw materials, and novel biotechnologies. Its R&D team comprises over 50 master’s and doctoral experts from renowned universities and research institutions. The company has progressively achieved high-efficiency mass production of multiple blockbuster products and sustained breakthroughs in commercialization both domestically and internationally. The team is committed to building the company into a world-leading synthetic biology industrial platform.

Zhang Li, Founder of the CompanyWith over a decade of research experience in synthetic biology, she oversees technical production and R&D. During her undergraduate studies, she served as the team captain for Tianjin University’s iGEM team. She later pursued her Ph.D. in the Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering at Syracuse University, where her research focused on synthetic biology, microbial quorum sensing, and metabolism. In 2016, she returned to China to launch a startup in the agricultural technology sector, which was subsequently successfully acquired.Co-founder Ge Zhihui,He is also an outstanding alumnus of Tianjin University and a recipient of the Tianjin “May 1st” Labor Medal. With successful entrepreneurial and exit experience in the internet gaming sector, he was selected for the Ministry of Science and Technology’s “Ten Thousand Talents Program” for technological innovation and entrepreneurship. He currently oversees operations and marketing.

From a technical perspective, the biggest bottleneck in synthetic biology at this stage is the low R&D efficiency. Yuan Yi Bio builds upon the research achievements of the Synthetic Biology Team at Tianjin University and integrates the specialized expertise of multiple universities and research institutes, leveragingIndustrial-scale optimization of yeast chassis, along with technologies such as genome shuffling, multi-target gene editing, directed enzyme evolution, and cell-free synthesis,Achieve low-cost identification of the global optimum, optimize the R&D cycle and investment for strain development by orders of magnitude, and resolve the industry’s critical bottleneck in R&D efficiency.

Yuan Yi Synthetic Biology R&D Center is located in the Wuqing Development Zone, Tianjin. Spanning a total area of 2,600 square meters, its laboratories meet GMP standards and encompass comprehensive functionalities ranging from molecular biology to industrial-scale pilot testing. The company’s manufacturing facility features high-standard production workshops, including a complete biological product production line comprising bio-fermentation workshops, flexible extraction workshops, and related ancillary facilities.It currently operates two 100-ton production lines and one 1,000-ton production line, ensuring a stable supply.

Real Photos of Yuan Yi Bio’s Production Facility

Leveraging its robust technical expertise, leading-edge products, and stable production supply, Yuan Yi Biotech has taken the lead in achieving industrial-scale transformation and mass production of astaxanthin yeast. The efficiently synthesized astaxanthin can be applied across multiple sectors, including feed additives, cosmetics, and health supplements. The company has also entered into a strategic partnership with Xiangyu Group, a Fortune 500 enterprise, to facilitate commercialization.

More recently, it has partnered with Sinopharm Taiji, a leading enterprise in China’s pharmaceutical industry, to jointly establish a synthetic biology-based biologic drug research technology platform. This collaboration aims to help Sinopharm Taiji achieve technological breakthroughs in the biopharmaceutical field and accelerate the development and application of biologic drugs.

Recently, Yuan Yi Biotech will also launch its Series A financing round. The company will accelerate the mass production and commercialization of multiple products, including CBD, SOD, L-carnitine, and recombinant human collagen, by leveraging its platforms for gene synthesis, editing, and enzyme optimization; microbial strain development; high-throughput automated screening; and industrialization solutions.

For this round of financing,Zhang Li, Founder of Yuanyi Biotechstated: “We extend our sincere gratitude to MARATHON VENTURE PARTNERS and the shareholders of Beiyang Haitang for their profound trust and support, and we thank the Yuanyi team for their dedication and hard work. Yuanyi Biotech has recently achieved a breakthrough in commercialization, progressing from zero to one. Moving forward, we will leverage our long-term accumulation in scientific research and our extensive experience in the industry to accelerate the R&D and production of innovative products, while actively building a global marketing system. We are committed to establishing the company as a world-leading synthetic biology industrial platform.””

Tang Yinan, Managing Director of MARATHON VENTURE PARTNERSIt stated: “Yuanyi Bio’s proprietary platform technology can significantly optimize the R&D cycle and capital investment for high-yield strain development, disruptively resolving the industry’s ‘bottleneck’ issues in R&D efficiency. This fundamentally transforms the company’s growth logic, creating the opportunity to cultivate a true ‘platform-type’ product company. The Yuanyi team is led by two successful serial entrepreneurs and brings together leading technical experts and industrialization talents, demonstrating strong industry experience, learning agility, and execution capabilities. MARATHON VENTURE PARTNERS is optimistic about the company’s gradual evolution into a next-generation microbial cell factory with global competitiveness, continuously launching more blockbuster products and accelerating its expansion in both domestic and international markets.”

Zheng Hongchao, Partner at Beiyang Haitang Fund“Haitang Fund highly recognizes Yuan Yi Bio’s capabilities in product portfolio selection, chassis cell expansion research, efficient development, and engineering. We have full confidence in the company team’s R&D and operational capabilities, are optimistic about its commercialization prospects, and look forward to engaging in more multidimensional collaborations with the company in the future.”

MARATHON VENTURE PARTNERS, established in 2016, is an early-stage venture capital fund focused on the healthcare and medical sector, currently managing multiple RMB and USD funds. MARATHON VENTURE PARTNERS deeply cultivates investment opportunities in the early and growth stages of healthcare, achieving forward-looking layouts in three major infrastructures: efficient access in digital health, innovative payment models, and efficiency enhancement.

In recent years, key investment projects have included Shukun Technology, a leader in AI medical imaging; MedxHealth, a pioneer in innovative healthcare payment solutions; RealFusion Technology, a dental 3D printing equipment company; Beden Medical, a B2B distribution platform for medical devices; and Nuomei Xinchuang, an enterprise specializing in ENT interventional devices. MARATHON VENTURE PARTNERS has been recognized as one of VCBeat’s “Top 10 Digital Health Investment Firms of the Year,” ranked among Zero2IPO Group’s “Top 30 China Healthcare Investment Firms,” named by CVSource as “China’s Best Early-Stage Venture Capital Firm,” listed by 36Kr among the “Top 50 Early-Stage Investment Firms Most Preferred by Entrepreneurs” and the “Top 50 Early-Stage Investment Firms Most Preferred by LPs,” and ranked by the Fund of Funds Research Center among the “Top 30 Early-Stage Funds for Best Returns.”

Beiyang Haitang Fund was jointly established by over 40 industrialists, including major shareholders and executives from 14 listed companies. The fund focuses on early-stage investments in hard technology and biomanufacturing, with an emphasis on incubating and nurturing early-stage projects.