Biotech startup QuberTech raises £3.4m from UKI2S and Sustainable Ventures
This article covers QuberTech, a biotech startup that has raised £3.4m in a seed funding round combining grant awards and equity investment from UKI2S (managed by Future Planet Capital) and Sustainable Ventures. The funds will accelerate R&D and pilot-scale validation of its engineering biology platform to develop domestically viable natural rubber and related biomaterials, aiming to strengthen supply chain resilience for manufacturers and industrial users.
QuberTech, a biotech startup developing sustainable natural rubber from specially engineered dandelions, has raised £3.4 million in a seed funding round combining grant awards and equity investment from UKI2S (managed by Future Planet Capital) and Sustainable Ventures. The money will accelerate R&D on the company’s engineering biology platform and fund pilot-scale validation as it pushes towards commercial deployment.
Why it matters
Natural rubber is a strategic industrial material used across automotive, healthcare, manufacturing and defence supply chains, but most production is concentrated in tropical regions and exposed to climate risk, disease and geopolitical disruption. Developing a domestically viable alternative could reduce import dependency, shorten supply chains and help manufacturers meet sustainability targets. For the UK and European markets these pressures are mounting, and technologies that enable local, reliable production of key biomaterials are increasingly receiving public and private support.
Inside the product
QuberTech’s platform uses genetic and precision-breeding techniques to create high-yield dandelion strains that produce natural rubber and other bio-based compounds in controlled growing environments. Unlike rubber trees, which require years and tropical climates, dandelions can be grown quickly in more temperate, localised systems nearer industrial demand centres. The company says the platform can also produce secondary biomaterials suitable for food, cosmetics, sustainable packaging and advanced materials, which could improve project economics by generating multiple revenue streams from the same crop.
Who are the investors?
The round combines equity and grant funding. Lead backers named in the announcement are UKI2S, managed by Future Planet Capital, and Sustainable Ventures. Additional support has been provided through Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme, delivered in partnership with Innovate UK, reflecting a public interest angle in resilient industrial supply chains.
Oliver Sexton, Investment Director at UKI2S, framed the investment around supply chain resilience and commercial scale-up:
Natural rubber keeps the world moving, yet global supply chains remain reliant on imported sources that are vulnerable to disruption. QuberTech offers a compelling sustainable alternative. By applying engineering biology to cultivate high-yield dandelions in controlled conditions, the company is developing a more resilient, localised and scalable approach to natural rubber production. Alongside rubber itself, the platform also creates valuable secondary biomaterials with applications across multiple industries - demonstrating the enormous potential of engineering biology to reshape global supply chains and manufacturing. UKI2S is excited to support QuberTech as it develops commercially scalable solutions for one of the world’s most strategically important industrial materials.
Josh Armistead-Wood, Investor at Sustainable Ventures, emphasised the sustainability and market potential:
QuberTech is tackling a major global sustainability and supply chain challenge with a genuinely innovative biotechnology platform. Natural rubber is essential across countless industries, yet existing production models face growing environmental and geopolitical pressures. QuberTech’s approach has the potential to create a far more sustainable and resilient alternative while unlocking additional value through bio-based co-products. We’re excited to support the team as they scale their technology, strengthen UK capability in sustainable materials, and move towards commercial deployment.
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Founder perspective
In the announcement, Ofir Meir, Co-founder & CEO at QuberTech, said:
As pressure grows on global natural rubber supply chains, every country will need to secure more resilient and sustainable access to this critical industrial material. Global supply chains are increasingly exposed to environmental, geopolitical and commercial pressures. At QuberTech, we’re developing a new generation of sustainable biomaterials using engineering biology to create resilient, locally produced alternatives to imported natural rubber. This critical funding enables us to accelerate R&D, expand our team, and validate our platform at a small pilot scale as we move towards commercial deployment. We believe engineering biology can fundamentally reshape how strategically important industrial materials are produced - creating more sustainable, secure and scalable supply chains for the future.
The bigger picture
The funding sits at the intersection of public policy and private investment: Defra and Innovate UK backing signals government interest in technologies that bolster agricultural and industrial resilience, while UK-based investors are starting to back more ambitious bio-based materials plays. If QuberTech can demonstrate consistent yields and cost-competitiveness at pilot scale, it would add to a small but growing cohort of European companies aiming to localise the production of critical biomaterials. That momentum will be watched closely by manufacturers and policymakers seeking alternatives to vulnerable global supply chains.
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