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How IndieBio helped Geltor set its sights on bio-engineered collagen
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Hannah DeTavis
Gelter
Using a plant-based fermentation process, Gelter biodesigns collagen for beauty, nutrition, food, and beverage markets. Source: Gelter

The New York Times recently spotlighted Geltor, an alt-protein company in Indie Bio’s portfolio (IBSF02 2015), in the article, “Is Bio-Designed Collagen the Next Step in Animal Protein Replacement?”.

The New York Times charts Geltor’s foray into the production of bio-engineered collagen, produced without any animal ingredients, and the firm’s success in working with cosmetics companies to provide essentially vegan collagen for all manner of cosmetics. The story recounts how seven years ago Geltor’s plan looked very different, and how SOSV’s IndieBio helped re-write the script.

“The new company was accepted into IndieBio, a biotech venture capital firm based in San Francisco that has incubated a host of alt-protein companies including Upside Foods (which cultures cow and chicken cells to make meat) and Perfect Day (which bioengineers microbes to produce milk proteins),” the article reports. “IndieBio’s leaders convinced [Geltor founders] Dr. Lorestani and Dr. Ouzounov that Geltor needed to sell a product, not a platform, and the partners settled on bio-designed collagen. Collagen is plentiful in all animal bodies, but Americans often encounter it in food-grade gelatin, nutritional supplements, and hair and skin-care products. They saw a growing market for collagen in luxury skin-care products, particularly in Asia.”

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