🧬 Mark Kotter - bit.bio - Part 4 | Democratizing Access to Cells & the Evolution of bit.bio | A Financial Journey from Angel Investment to IPO | Building a Tech Bio Platform & Mark’s 10-Year Vision

The Biotech Startups Podcast

Part 4 of 4.

My guest for this week’s episode is Mark Kotter, neurosurgeon, stem cell biologist, and CEO and founder of bit.bio. He has also been a professor and researcher at Cambridge for more than 15 years.

Bit.bio is an award-winning human synthetic biology company providing human cells for research, drug discovery, and cell therapy. The company applies a patented safe harbor gene targeting approach to inducibly express transcription factor combinations that reprogram human-induced pluripotent stem cells into highly defined and mature human cell types. Bit.bio spun out of the University of Cambridge in 2016 and has since raised approximately $200 million from Arch Ventures, Foresight Capital, Milky Way, Charles River Laboratories, National Resilience, Tencent, and Pulau Capital, among others.

Mark is also the co-founder of Meatable, scientific founder and chairman of rejuvenation startup clock.bio, and co-founder and trustee of Myelopathy.org, the first charity dedicated to a common yet often overseen condition causing a slow-motion spinal cord injury. His diverse experience as an academic and serial entrepreneur offers a wealth of insights aspiring scientist founders can draw from.

Join us this week and hear about:

• The evolution of bit.bio and their mission to democratize access to human cells and therapies
• Building a solid infrastructure and hiring the right people
• The early hurdles of securing funding and managing co-founder dynamics and bit.bio’s financial journey from angel investments to institutional funding
• Mark’s plans to take the company public

Please enjoy my conversation with Mark Kotter.

Timestamps

00:28 Intro

01:52 Democratizing access to cells, the core mission of bit.bio

04:06 A new paradigm of creating batches of cells

06:26 Creating a new market out of a disruptive product

09:20 The business initiatives at bit.bio and Mark’s driving philosophies

11:28 The journey of new modality platforms like bit.bio’s & the IP landscape

15:02 Building the infrastructure and engine powering bit.bio, finding the right people

23:05 Financing bit.bio early on and their financial journey from a small, scrappy lab

26:56 Raising larger funds from institutional investors, bit.bio’s Series A and B

28:56 Mark’s future plans and 10-year vision for bit.bio

31:16 The 2-year vision, what will happen at bit.bio in the near future

34:16 Shout outs and advice to 21-year old self

36:05 Outro

Find Our Guest, Mark Kotter, at these links:

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/mark-kotter

https://www.bit.bio/

Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee

https://www.excedr.com

Social & Website

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@excedr

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/excedr_inc

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExcedrInc

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excedr

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@excedr

Podcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/
Enriched Notes:

Topics Mentioned:

bit.bio https://www.bit.bio/

Charles River Laboratories https://www.criver.com/

Meatable https://meatable.com/

University of Cambridge https://www.cam.ac.uk/

Cell therapy https://www.astrazeneca.com/r-d/next-generation-therapeutics/cell-therapies.html

GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) https://www.excedr.com/resources/gmp-vs-glp-whats-the-difference

Intellectual Property Strategy in Biotech https://www.excedr.com/resources/intellectual-property-strategy-for-biotechs

Patents in Biotech https://www.excedr.com/resources/intellectual-property-rights-for-biotechs

Partnerships in Biotech https://www.excedr.com/blog/how-biotech-partnerships-support-research

Stem Cell Biology https://irp.nih.gov/our-research/scientific-focus-areas/stem-cell-biology

Genetic Engineering https://medicine.missouri.edu/centers-institutes-labs/health-ethics/faq/gene-therapy

People Mentioned:

Shinya Yamanaka https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinya_Yamanaka

Thomas Moreau https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-moreau-99529525/?originalSubdomain=uk

Kathryn Penkus Corzo https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathryn-penkus-corzo/

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