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Saudi-backed startup aiming to bring back extinct species raises $200m

Colossal Biosciences says it plans to create a wooly mammoth calf born to an elephant surrogate Pexels/Pixabay
Colossal Biosciences says it plans to create a woolly mammoth calf born to an elephant surrogate
  • Colossal aims to revive mammoth
  • Market value of $10.2bn
  • KBW Ventures a previous backer

Colossal Biosciences, the US biotech backed by Saudi investor Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed, this month raised $200 million in new funding, which will finance its goal to resurrect extinct species such as the woolly mammoth and the dodo. 

The newest fundraising round brings the Dallas-based startup’s total raised from investors to $435 million. 

Based on the latest raise, Colossal now has a valuation of $10.2 billion, which is more than six times its valuation two years ago when it had its Series B funding raise.

That Series B raise was backed by Prince Khaled through his venture capital firm, KBW Ventures. 

“I immediately jumped on the opportunity to participate in Colossal’s previous round,” Prince Khaled told AGBI. “It is companies like Colossal – big ideas that will truly change the world, not just as a cliché – that are made to be venture-backed.”

Global VC funding in biotech last year reached $28 billion, up from $21 billion the year before.

KBW has previously invested in biotech companies such as Beyond Meat, which produces plant-based “meat” products, and Geltor, which creates animal-free proteins for the cosmetics, food and nutrition industries. 

Prince Khaled said the sector is going to “get more and more lucrative as advancements continue”.

He said venture capital is about backing extraordinary ideas that are still being tested and refined and helping them to evolve into proven services. “That’s exactly what Colossal is doing, and it’s thrilling to see their groundbreaking science and technology develop,” Prince Khaled said.

He said Colossal “is putting science back in the forefront of the public imagination”.

“The whole world is waiting with bated breath to see these animals reintroduced,” he said. 

Colossal co-founder and CEO Ben Lamm told Bloomberg that the company is on track to produce a woolly mammoth calf born to a surrogate elephant mother by late 2028.