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The Bay Area startup behind Shark Tank’s seaweed-based bacon

Seaweed might not be the first thing you think of sidling up on a plate with fried eggs and hash browns. But it’s high in protein, one of the fastest growing plants on earth, and requires no land, fresh water, or fertilizer. Read post
The Vivere team. L-R: Dave Schaffer, John Dueber, Melissa Kotterman, Noem Noiwangklang, Hyuncheol Lee, Adam Schieferecke. Photo taken during JP Morgan Healthcare week in SF. Courtesy Vivere.

Seeing the Tumors Again: How Vivere Oncotherapies is Unmasking Cancer

“One of the ways tumors grow within the body is that they can hide from the immune system, says Melissa Kotterman, CEO of Bakar Bio Labs’ newest tenant, Vivere Oncotherapies. “Our technology helps the immune system see the tumors again. We can wake up the immune system and say, ‘Hey, there’s a tumor over here, you can come get it.’” Vivere is engineering a platform to carry and improve the performance of oncolytic viruses that invade and replicate within the cancer cells, signalling the immune system to attack the tumor. Co-founders Hyuncheol Lee and Adam Schieferecke have shown that the engineering platform can be used to improve distribution through the tumor, decrease the tumor size, and increase survival compared to a non-engineered version in a mouse model of colorectal cancer. Read post
gigacrop

Forbes: A Possible Step-Change for Plant Growth By Upgrading Photosynthesis

GigaCrop was founded by CEO Chris Eiben in 2020 as part of a fellowship with the Berkeley Lab Cyclotron Road program in partnership with non-profit Activate funded by the U.S. DOE., and today (March 11th 2025) they announced $4.5 million of pre-seed round funding led by a venture capital group in California called Playground Global. Read post
gigacrop

GigaCrop to Advance Photosynthesis for Boosted Crop Productivity

Biotech pioneer GigaCrop today announced it raised a $4.5 million pre-seed round of funding led by Playground Global. Using machine learning to improve enzymes, the company aims to boost photosynthesis, crop yields, and farmers’ profits. GigaCrop’s technology will help plants use sunlight more efficiently, enabling agricultural producers of food, fiber, and fuel to grow more with the same water, fertilizer, and acreage. Read post
pitchbook

PitchBook Report – Emerging Space Brief: Longevity Tech

Standout deals include NewLimit’s $72.3 million raise to advance epigenetic rejuvenation and Cyclarity Therapeutics’ $10.3 million round to push forward its senolytic platform. Despite regulatory gray areas and a long road to clinical validation, momentum is building as longevity biotech shifts from speculative science to a potential cornerstone of future healthcare. Read post
Marco Lobba and Sophia Lugo

Marco Lobba and Sophia Lugo Named to San Francisco Business Times 40 Under 40

Many people don’t end up in the jobs they wanted when they were four years old. But Catena Biosciences CEO Marco Lobba and Radar Therapeutics CEO Sophia Lugo aren’t most people — a fact that didn’t escape the San Francisco Business Times. For their innovative contributions to biotech and precision medicine — Lobba with CatenaBio’s Multi-Payload Conjugate™ antibody-drug combinations, Lugo with Radar’s targeted mRNA therapies — the SF Business Times named both Lobba and Lugo to their 2025 “40 Under 40” class of honorees, recognizing them as two of the most influential and industrious leaders in the Bay Area. The awards will be presented on Friday, April 25 at the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco. Read post

Banksy Tags Bakar Bio Labs

Since the 60’s, Berkeley has been home of free expression, though never through graffiti. But Gino Segre, MD, was surprised to found a crowd had formed near the front entrance of Bakar BioEnginuity Hub Tuesday morning. Students, faculty, and other passersby numbering in the dozens were staring at unauthorized artwork painted on the front facade of the Brutalist landmark building. The installation provoked varied responses, many nodding vigorously that it was vibrant, bold, profane, and timely. An employee pressed through the crowd on her way into work, and muttered it looked like her recently contaminated cell culture. Read post
Bakar Labs in numbers
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The members of Allopartis in the QB3 Garage@UCSF incubator