Biotech company Zentraxa has received a £500,000 investment.
Spun out of the University of Bristol, the company was formed in 2017 and is commercialising Zentide, a manufacturing process to produce biological adhesives for use in sectors including healthcare.
Zentraxa is looking to move its biological adhesives into real-world applications with the funds.
Of the funds, £113,000 was invested in Zentraxa by the Bristol Private Equity Club.
“We’re developing both a manufacturing process and our own bio-materials that are highly effective adhesives,” said chief technology officer Martin Challand.
“Both these technologies are based on processes found in the natural environment, making it more environmentally-friendly and sustainable than other petrochemical derived products currently being used.
“With investment in place, the focus for the coming months will be optimisation of our Zentide process from lab to pilot scale, which will allow more accurate product costing, providing improved business focus and customer traction.
“We see lots of applications for our biological adhesive products. We are initially focusing on the healthcare sector and applications such as wound dressing where our biologically derived adhesives show many benefits sticking materials to skin.
“But, as we progress, there are lots of possibilities, especially as more and more industries look towards environmentally-sustainable solutions like ours.
“This is a crucial stage in our development and we are delighted to have the Bristol Private Equity Club on board as we progress past the feasibility stage and onto proving that our technology can be a global leader.”
Zentraxa is currently in partnership talks with a global healthcare company and wants to take its products and manufacturing processes past the feasibility stage and start testing them in the real world.
Jerry Barnes, one of BPEC’s founding members, added: “We are always looking for investment opportunities with innovative Bristol-based businesses with the potential for rapid scale up and Zentraxa is a perfect example of that.
“Even though Martin and his team come from a scientific, rather than business, background they have proven themselves to be gifted entrepreneurs with an ambitious vision to make take their product to the global marketplace.”