Science business success for woman who grew up in Morpeth
A science/technology startup co-founded by a woman who grew up in Morpeth has achieved a venture capital funding round worth £1.7million.
Anzen Industries has secured a $2.2million pre-seed investment to transform complex chemical manufacturing and deliver industrial supply chain resilience via its biomanufacturing innovation.
The pre-seed round, led by LocalGlobe and Creator Fund, will primarily support its shift of its operations to the USA – one of the world’s biggest chemical manufacturing markets – where it will build its first manufacturing facility.
Anzen Industries, co-founded by scientists Amy Locks and Pedro Lovatt Garcia – also intends to explore new industrial collaborations and partnerships as it scales.
As a child, Amy attended Goosehill First School, Newminster Middle School and the King Edward VI high school. She remains very proud of her roots in the town.
She said: “I'm incredibly proud to be representing Morpeth. Growing up here gave me a strong sense of community, ambition and the confidence to pursue opportunities beyond my home town, while always staying connected to it.
“Being able to reflect Morpeth positively means a great deal to me and I hope it shows what is possible for young people from the area.”
In relation to the investment, she added: “Europe’s strong scientific heritage, community and support have allowed us, as science-based founders, to take our breakthrough from scientific discovery to viable commercial venture.
“As we look to the next stage of our growth, the US offers a more advanced industrial and innovation ecosystem that is ideal for us as we take a critical step in scaling Anzen’s technology globally.”
The firm is engineering molecular resilience so that complex chemical manufacturing can be more efficient and cost effective, getting products to market quicker.
Once built, the new facility in the USA will manufacture high-value, critical molecules used as active ingredients in cosmetic, fragrance and food products, as well as providing solutions for critical minerals processing.
Anzen Industries uses a first-principles approach – isolated, highly precise and tunable enzymes for biochemical reactions.
Pedro said: “Looking to the future, we envision Anzen Industries leading the market in manufacturing entirely new molecules.”