Prolific Machines raises $50M series B2 to scale light-based biomanufacturing
What's the deal? Prolific Machines has closed the initial tranche of a $50 million series B2 round, co-led by Atoms & Bits and Patrick Soon-Shiong's Nant CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The raise brings the optogenetics company's total funding to more than $100 million.
What's the endgame? Prolific Machines uses a bespoke photomolecular platform that deploys light and optogenetics to directly manipulate gene expression in living cells. The company wants to replace existing tools for controlling cells in biomanufacturing.
Where's the money going? The cash will scale up the platform and expand programs with unnamed major pharmas, Bay Area biotechs, and partners across the company's CDMO network. It will also fund workforce growth, work on biologics, biosimilars, and viral vectors, plus early efforts toward tissue and organ fabrication.
Why now? Demand is outpacing supply. "We have this problem right now," said chief executive officer and co-founder Deniz Kent, "where we have too many people that want better manufacturing tools." Optogenetics also gained prominence as the basis of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Earlier this year, Prolific Machines said its platform hit 21 g/L in a 15-day intensified fed-batch Chinese hamster ovary cell run for a monoclonal antibody — above the industry standard of below 10 g/L.
Who's joining? Soon-Shiong and James Stewart, founder of Atoms & Bits and Level One FundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, will join the board. Prolific Machines is also entering a strategic collaboration with Soon-Shiong's NantWorks to apply its platform across biologic programs in the portfolio.
"Prolific Machines is the most exciting advance I have seen in biopharma manufacturing in decades," Soon-Shiong said in a statement.
The signal: Soon-Shiong's twin bets — on Prolific Machines and robotics firm Multiply Labs — point to mounting investor appetite for advanced manufacturing as the industry chases a potential production paradigm shift.
Read more: fiercepharma.com
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
