Colorifix and The Earlham Institute will collaborate with to develop the next generation of sustainable dyes, thanks to new funding from the latest round of Innovate UK Smart Grants

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Colorifix secures Innovate UK funding for the next generation of sustainable dyes.

 

Colorifix is thrilled to confirm that it has secured funding from the latest round of Innovate UK Smart Grants to work alongside the Earlham Institute to develop the next generation of sustainable dyes. Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, drives productivity and economic growth by supporting businesses to develop and realise the potential of new ideas.

 

The Innovate UK grant will significantly strengthen links between the SME Colorifix and research organisation Earlham Institute, both located on Norwich Research Park to help further establish Norwich as a synthetic biology hub in the UK. The collaboration with the Earlham Institute will enable Colorifix, which is a world leader in the development of dye manufacturing using synthetic biology, and the Colorifix team to solidify their position as the experts and manufacturers of the next generation of safe and sustainable dyes.

 

Neil Williamson, Head of Microbial Engineering at Colorifix, commented: “This was a great team effort by Drs M Carvalho, S. Vaud, R. Marques and myself with the team from the Earlham Institute who identified a research proposal that will not only benefit Colorifix but the wider UK biotechnology and synthetic biology communities through the development of a next generation synthetic biology platform optimised for growth on a renewable feedstock‪.”

 

Dr Liliya Serazetdinova, Head of Business Development and Impact at the Earlham Institute, said: “We’ve built a great partnership with Colorifix and it’s fantastic to see this recognised with new funding from Innovate UK. Harnessing the power of synthetic biology to create dyes has potential to eliminate the need for hazardous chemicals, helping us to pioneer safe and sustainable dying process, and help textile manufacturing industry to move to zero carbon. Our ability to scale-up and automate synthetic biology processes is accelerating innovation in this industry and we’re excited about working with Colorifix to develop the next generation of dyes.”

 

About Colorifix

Colorifix is a biotechnology company that has pioneered the first entirely biological process to produce, deposit and fix pigments onto textiles. Using a synthetic biology approach, it offers a radically different solution to incumbent dyeing technologies that entirely cuts out the use of harsh chemistry and leads to huge reductions in water consumption. Colorifix’s investors include Cambridge Enterprise, H&M, Primera Impact and Sagana, whose collective backing is funding its expansion.

 

 

For more information, visit www.colorifix.com

 

About the Earlham Institute

The Earlham Institute (EI) is a world-leading research Institute focusing on the development of genomics and computational biology. EI is based within the Norwich Research Park and is one of eight institutes that receive strategic funding from Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council (BBSRC) – £5.43m in 2017/18 – as well as support from other research funders. EI operates a National Capability to promote the application of genomics and bioinformatics to advance bioscience research and innovation.

EI offers a state-of-the-art DNA sequencing facility, unique by its operation of multiple complementary technologies for data generation. The Institute is a UK hub for innovative bioinformatics through research, analysis and interpretation of multiple, complex data sets. It hosts one of the largest computing hardware facilities dedicated to life science research in Europe. It is also actively involved in developing novel platforms to provide access to computational tools and processing capacity for multiple academic and industrial users and promoting applications of computational Bioscience. Additionally, the Institute offers a training programme through courses and workshops, and an outreach programme targeting key stakeholders, and wider public audiences through dialogue and science communication activities.

 

www.earlham.ac.uk