We are pleased to announce that BugBiome and Evoralis are the first companies at Co-Labs by journey.
We are excited to watch their ventures grow and assist them with fitted urban lab space in Cambridge’s start-up ecosystem. You can find out more about their businesses below.
Co-labs by journey provides fitted lab and office space, so early-stage companies can move in straight away and focus on their science. You can find out more about our space here.
Please get in touch with our team to learn more and organise a tour: co-labs.enquiries@journeyre.io
BugBiome
"Moving into Co-labs by journey has provided us with our own dedicated space to accelerate research and development. This has enabled us to establish new insect colonies, allowing us to broaden our focus to additional pest targets in the future."
Being located next to NIAB has been particularly beneficial, as they supply our plants and are leaders in agritech innovation and field trials, offering valuable collaboration opportunities to further enhance our work."
Dr Alicia Showering, Bugbiome CEO
BugBiome is transforming pest control by developing eco-friendly bioinsecticides that are effective and safe for humans, animals, and the environment. Their approach ensures sustainable pest management, contributing to a healthier planet.
BugBiome’s cutting-edge research is harnessing the power of the largely untapped potential of crop surface microbiome, utilising cutting-edge microbiology, engineering biology, and ‘omics to find novel biopesticides. Their innovative approach utilised hardware to develop the AvidX which screens microbes for their impact on pest behaviour. They are starting with aphids, a significant threat to crop yields due to their transmission of yellow viruses, many of which have developed resistance to existing chemical control methods.
Founders Dr Alicia Showering and Chris Mosedale have continued to expand their team since completing Accelerate@Babraham in 2023. They have closed a pre-seed funding round from IndieBio/ SOSV, Cambridge Angels and Discovery Park Ventures as well as securing additional grants from Innovate UK to identify new methods to control aphids in crop protection.
Evoralis
"Our move to the Co-Labs has been seamless thanks to the wonderful support we've received. The team has been incredibly helpful every step of the way, and the location is simply unbeatable - it's the perfect environment for us to thrive."
Dr Mariana Rangel Pereira, CSO of Evoralis
Evoralis is a University of Cambridge bio-tech spin-out, dedicated to pioneering enzyme development with a mission to revolutionise plastic recycling. They are paving the way for a truly circular economy with a particular emphasis on the textile industry. They aim to make over 80% of textiles recyclable, including mixed and blended fibers that were previously non-recyclable.
Evoralis’ breakthrough technology was developed by three postdoctoral researchers – Josephin Holstein, a chemist from Germany; Mariana Rangel Pereira, a biologist from Brazil; and Tomasz Kaminski, a microfluidics expert from Poland. While working at the Professor Florian Hollfelder laboratory at the University of Cambridge, they were driven by a shared concern for the environmental impact of plastic waste. Inspired by the potential of directed evolution, a technique recognised with a Nobel Prize awarded to Frances Arnold in 2018, they set out to develop enzymes capable of breaking down plastics more efficiently.
The team has recently secured a £2.5m seed funding round led by LIFTT S.p.A as well as co-investment from Cambridge Enterprise Ventures. The company’s platform has already attracted attention from major fashion retailers, who have engaged Evoralis to develop enzymes specifically for recycling nylon and polyurethane – two of the most difficult synthetic polymers to recycle.
