IPIRA Startups

IPIRA Startups

Ansa Biotechnologies

Brief Description

With synthetic DNA fueling innovation in biological research, therapeutics, diagnostics, and biomanufacturing, there is an urgent need for faster and more accurate DNA synthesis. Currently, DNA is manufactured via a chemical method that has remained essentially unchanged for 35 years and has approached a plateau. Ansa Biotechnologies is developing a faster, more accurate, and cleaner enzyme-based DNA synthesis technology. The technique promises to dramatically accelerate innovation in biological research and engineering.

The approach is based on polymerase-...

nEye Systems

Brief Description

nEye Systems is a next-generation optical switch company. Their programmable photonic integrated circuit integrates high-radix optical circuit switching on a Si chip and is a future-proof solution for Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML) systems and other high-performance computing environments. Their optical switches are poised to solve some of the biggest challenges facing the growth and adoption of AI/ML – the excessive costs of power requirements and network expansion.

nEye’s wafer-scale optical circuit switch offers direct optical connections,...

Stylus Medicine

Brief Description

Stylus Medicine has created a new gene editing technology based on viral proteins called recombinases. These proteins naturally insert large swaths of DNA into bacterial genomes, but Stylus used machine learning to design recombinases that target specific regions of the human genome. The method is based on the pioneering work of Patrick Hsu, UC Berkeley assistant professor of bioengineering and co-founder and a core investigator of the Arc Institute. The company is on a mission to develop next-generation therapies for disease through genome engineering and chromatin...

Sonera Magnetics

Brief Description

Magnetometers are nearly ubiquitous in today’s world, fueling applications as diverse as medical diagnostics and self-driving cars. The most sensitive magnetometers, however, can only operate at extreme temperatures and in a shielded environment that isolates the sensor from ambient magnetic fields. Sonera Magnetics is developing a magnetometer that can operate at room temperature and in portable form factors with sensitivity comparable to the best magnetic sensors available today, dramatically increasing potential applications.

Co-founders Dominic Labanowski and...

Pow.Bio

Brief Description

Pow.Bio provides intelligent fermentation services for industrial and synthetic biology. The company has built an AI platform that rapidly identified better-performing process conditions, increasing output 2–3x from existing infrastructure within just 100 days. The company's services combine continuous fermentation with advanced control methodology to quickly optimize the fermentation process and deliver high yields at low cost. The scale runs from 1-100 liter capacity for bacteria, yeast, and filamentous fungi. The first-of-its-kind fermentation technology solves the...

Generation Lab

Brief Description

Generation Lab provides the first and only platform that measures the effectiveness of longevity interventions to identify what works. Co-founded by pre-eminent aging and longevity researcher Dr. Irina Conboy from UC Berkeley, Generation Lab combines an easy-to-use test with proprietary techniques to definitively measure molecular disbalance that indicates aging and risk of disease before symptoms arise. The company works with clinicians who can recommend personalized interventions to increase health, wellness, and longevity; and Generation Lab uniquely measures the...

SirenOpt

Brief Description

SirenOpt provides manufacturing intelligence solutions that accelerate research and development and enable cost-effective manufacturing of high-performance micro- and nano-materials, including lithium-ion batteries, membranes, semiconductors, flexible electronics, packaging materials, and many others. The company's real-time manufacturing intelligence platform, designed for cost-effective manufacturing of thin films, utilizes cold atmospheric plasma and physics-informed machine learning to collect critical manufacturing data and improve manufacturing quality and output....

GigaCrop

Brief Description

Manufacturer of bio-derived hydrogen peroxide using synthetic biology intended to make photosynthesis better. The company engineers enzymes that are used instead of traditional chemical catalysts to remove organic solvents during the production of hydrogen peroxide, allowing the process to occur in any environment while reducing carbon emissions.

GigaCrop Founder and CEO Dr. Christopher Eiben earned his PhD in bioengineering at UC Berkeley, focusing on synthetic metabolism and protein engineering in the lab of UC Berkeley Professor Dr. Jay Keasling, a pioneer in...

ChemFinity Technologies

Brief Description

ChemFinity Technologies is tackling one of the most urgent challenges of the energy transition: the critical mineral shortage. The company leverages highly tunable porous polymer sorbents that selectively extract more than 20 different metals and other elements from liquids and gases. ChemFinity has developed two forms of materials: sorbent beads, which function like a Brita filter but target specific metals, and membranes that purify water while simultaneously capturing valuable metals. The technology has the potential to efficiently recover metal from various waste...

Calyx

Brief Description

Calyx is a materials science company that harnesses biology to provide low cost and highly accurate sensors for real-time detection and analysis of air chemicals in a variety of industries, including safety, healthcare, transportation, and food. The company offers commercial customers phage-based sensing and analysis of multiple gasses.

Company co-founders Ray Chiu and Benson Fan developed the company’s founding technology as a capstone project while they were students in the UC Berkeley-UCSF Masters in Bioengineering program. With the encouragement of UC Berkeley...