Arye Lipman cofounded Biosphere, a startup building UV-sterilized bioreactors that replace the 1950’s steam reactors to reduce biomanufacturing costs. Previously, he built a net work of biotech labs for startups like Minicircle and invested in some of them. Biosphere came out of stealth this year through a USD $8.8 M seed round led by Lowercarbon Capital and VXI Capital, with participation from Founders Fund.
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In this episode we cover:
Upbringing in the California countryside and falling for biology (02:20 - 05:02)
Early start in biotech as part of the founding team of an antibodies company (05:11 - 05:59)
Why he built a network of biotech labs and why it wasn’t a good business (06:00 - 11:11)
Investing in biotech through Mars Bio (11:28 - 12:46)
Deep dives into the biomanufacturing industry and why sterility is a key constrain in costs (12:50 - 16:01)
Superstition in biotechnology and redesigning the bioreactor from the ground up (16:08 - 18:20)
Scaling up to move the needle (18:21 - 19:05)
How UV sterilization and cleaning compare to steam (19:12 - 20:21)
Testing performance in plastic and other materials (20:33 - 21:20)
Building both biotech software and hardware to generate feedback loops (21:32 - 22:59)
What the DoD is doing with biotech and how Biosphere is working with them (23:43 - 26:48)
Why they’re not too concerned about downstream innovation (27:10 - 29:00)
The Biopunk vision of industrialized photosynthesis and the realistic future of taking over the chemical industry with industrialized biology (29:15 - 31:54)
Especially if you’re young, take the risk. Join a biotech startup or found your own! (32:19 - end)
