SOSV’s IndieBio NY has opened the doors to its new headquarters at 7 Penn Plaza—a 25,000-square-foot open office engineered to foster innovation and community in the New York deep tech ecosystem.
The new facility will host startups in the IndieBio NY startup development program, which each year accepts 20+ pre-seed startups focused on human and planetary health. The space includes multi-disciplinary BSL1 and BSL2 wet labs, a 140-person capacity event space and two large, open office areas.
IndieBio aims to make 7 Penn Plaza a hub for the fast growing life-science ecosystem across New York state. Plans are underway to host 100 events a year and make the event space an invaluable venue to convene scientists, researchers, founders, engineers, and investors.
Launched in May 2020, IndieBio NY is an expansion of IndieBio SF, the world’s leading startup development program for founders in food and ag tech, bio-engineered materials, therapeutics, and diagnostics, among many other sectors. In other words, IndieBio serves founders who want to “save lives and save the planet.” Startups that join IndieBio receive SOSV’s initial investment of up to $525,000 and work alongside the IndieBio team for 4-6 months to refine their product as well as develop go-to-market and fundraising strategies.
Since 2014, more than 200 companies have graduated from IndieBio in SF and NY. They have raised more than $2.3 billion and have an aggregate valuation of $8.3 billion.
To support the launch of IndieBio NY, Empire State Development and the Partnership Fund for New York City pledged to invest $25 million over five years. The partnership aims to accelerate the development of New York’s flourishing life sciences ecosystem.
New York graduates more life science PhDs than any other state in the U.S. and is home to a quarter of all US clinical trials.
SOSV general partner Stephen Chambers is the managing director of IndieBio NY, and the chief scientific officer is Sabriya Stukes.
Chambers has a Ph.D. in molecular biology, was one of the founding scientists at Vertex Pharmaceuticals and co-founded of Abpro Therapeutics, which employed synthetic biology and immunology to accelerate antibody discovery. As CEO of SynbiCITE, the Innovation and Knowledge Center for Synthetic Biology in the UK, he oversaw dramatic growth in the synthetic biology innovation ecosystem. At the same time, Chambers co-founded Bio-start, the UK’s first Life Science accelerator. Recently awarded Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence at Imperial College London, Stephen is a Member of the Royal Society’s Industrial Fellows College and Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology.
Stukes has a PhD in biomedical sciences from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Prior to IndieBio, she was Operations Director for Stellate Therapeutics, a biotech company developing microbiome-derived therapeutics to treat neurodegenerative diseases. After earning her PhD, she was the founding Associate Director for the Master’s in Translational Medicine (MTM) program at The City College of New York, NYC’s only graduate degree that trains scientists and engineers in the commercialization of medical technology. A microbiologist, educator, and science communicator, Stukes’ expertise is in working with individuals to design sustainable clinical solutions and craft compelling scientific narratives.
Counting alumni standouts Halomine, Multus Media, TômTex, and Harmony Baby Nutrition, IndieBio NY has graduated 36 companies and 34 of those have raised follow-on funding.
In February, IndieBio NY will graduate its fifth cohort, including companies across the fields of food, biomaterials, femtech, industrial biotech, therapeutics and drug discovery, including:
- BioFluff—creating the world’s first completely plant-based fur targeting the luxury clothing market
- FluoSphera—developing the first liquid microphysiological systems (MPS) ever made to revolutionize drug discovery
- Edge Foods—creating sophisticated cell factories to bring cultivated meat to market
- Forte Protein—making animal protein ingredients in plants, safely and sustainably
- Atlantic Fish Co—developing cultivated seafood to provide the world with delicious and sustainable protein
- Vader Nanotechnologies—improving our ability to recycle plastic and degrade forever chemicals by creating new organisms and enzymes that break down pollutants
- Vitarka Therapeutics—revolutionizing intracellular drug delivery by developing a new tumor-targeted platform technology using pore-forming proteins
- Pneuma—developing the next generation of sustainable materials, implementing the process of photosynthesis as a product feature
- Bioeutetics—bringing non-toxic, biodegradable, and sustainable solvents to the mainstream
- AIMA—developing a new generation of CBD-based period pain management systems
Interesting in learning more about the startups in IndieBio’s fifth cohort? Sign up here to request an invitation to IndieBio NY’s in-person Class 5 Demo Day on Feb 1, which will include a series of talks with past and present IndieBio founders and investors, insights into the current state of biotech investment, and the opportunity to meet IndieBio NY’s companies and see their technology in action. Registration is also open for IBNY’s online Class 5 Demo Day on Feb 7—click here to RSVP.
Founders interested in applying to IndieBio can start here. For more information on IndieBio and SOSV in general, including how to apply for use of the event space, please reach out here.
