Ansa Biotechnologies Secures Funding to Revolutionize DNA Synthesis

Ansa Biotechnologies isn’t just chasing faster DNA synthesis. It’s questioning a forty-year status quo built on chemical processes that were never meant to keep pace with modern biology.

The Emeryville-based company is betting that enzymes—not reagents—will define the next generation of synthetic DNA. The shift promises cleaner manufacturing, longer sequences, and an escape from the bottlenecks that have slowed genetic engineering for decades.

If that sounds ambitious, it is. But ambition is what gets funded. Every round in biotech tells us something about what the field believes in, and Ansa’s latest raise makes the message clear: DNA synthesis is ready for reinvention.

Ansa Biotechnologies' Bold Mission

Ansa Biotechnologies, based in Emeryville, California, is chasing a simple but radical goal: to reinvent how DNA is made. The company is developing an enzymatic DNA manufacturing platform that’s faster, more accurate, and far more sustainable than the chemical synthesis methods used for over four decades.

It’s an audacious bet on the future of synthetic biology. DNA synthesis is the foundation for nearly everything in modern biotech—drug discovery, vaccine design, agricultural engineering, and biomanufacturing. Yet most of the industry still depends on the same phosphoramidite chemistry that powered early genetic engineering in the 1980s.

Ansa wants to change that. Their approach replaces the harsh chemical process with a natural one, building DNA the way cells do, using enzymes instead of reagents. The result could be a step-change in how quickly and cleanly researchers design biology.

Why DNA Synthesis Needs a New Approach

For decades, DNA has been made the same way: through phosphoramidite chemistry. It’s a process that gets the job done but leaves a lot to be desired. It uses harsh reagents, generates chemical waste, and hits a wall at around 200 base pairs. Anything longer requires assembly, which introduces errors and eats up time.

Those limits have real consequences. When you’re designing CRISPR gene editing, mRNA vaccines, cell therapies, small inefficiencies compound fast. Researchers wait weeks for sequences that might not even work. Some designs never make it off the whiteboard because they’re too complex to synthesize with chemical methods.

Ansa Biotechnologies wants to break that cycle. Instead of forcing chemistry to do biology’s job, the company is developing a fully enzymatic synthesis process that builds DNA the way nature does—one accurate base at a time.

A Novel Technology Platform: TdT-dNTP Conjugates

Ansa Biotechnologies has developed a proprietary enzymatic DNA synthesis technology based on TdT-dNTP conjugates, a breakthrough approach first published in Nature Biotechnology by the company's founders. This innovative method enables rapid and controlled single-base additions to DNA molecules, allowing for direct synthesis of sequences over 1,000 bases long.

The technology works through a simple two-step cycle. First, a TdT enzyme with a single tethered nucleotide (dNTP) extends a DNA primer by exactly one base. The enzyme remains attached after addition, blocking further extensions and ensuring precision. Second, a different enzyme cleaves the linker, releasing the TdT and exposing the DNA end for the next addition cycle.

This fully aqueous, enzymatic process offers several key advantages:

• Longer sequences: Direct synthesis of DNA fragments up to 600 bp commercially available, with early access programs offering constructs up to 50 kb without assembly
• Complex sequence capability: Successfully synthesizes sequences with extreme GC content, tandem repeats, and secondary structures that challenge chemical methods
• Higher accuracy: Native-like nucleotide substrates enable extremely fast reactions that go to completion, reducing errors
• Environmental benefits: Fully enzymatic process eliminates harsh chemicals and reduces hazardous waste

Ansa has developed highly multiplexed, custom-built instruments optimized for speed and reliability, orchestrated by proprietary informatics software. All sequences undergo biosecurity screening following industry best practices.

Leadership & Expertise

Ansa Biotechnologies transitioned from founder-led innovation to commercial-stage leadership in February 2024, positioning the company for its next growth phase. The leadership team combines deep scientific expertise with proven commercial experience:

• Jason T. Gammack, Chief Executive Officer: A life sciences industry veteran, Gammack joined Ansa to lead the transition from early access programs to full commercial operations. His extensive expertise in commercializing life sciences tools and services positions the company for long-term growth.
• Daniel Lin-Arlow, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer and Co-founder: Lin-Arlow received his PhD from UC Berkeley working in Professor Jay Keasling's lab and co-developed the foundational TdT-dNTP conjugate technology at Lawrence Berkeley Lab's Joint BioEnergy Institute. He served as founding CEO before transitioning to CSO.
• Sebastian Palluk, PhD, Chief Technology Officer and Co-founder: Palluk joined JBEI for his PhD work and partnered with Lin-Arlow to develop the first practical enzymatic de novo DNA synthesis method. As CTO, he oversees continued technology advancement and platform development.
• Jeremiah Hanes, PhD, Senior Vice President of Research & Development: A proven leader with over 13 years at PacBio developing long-read sequencing technologies, Hanes brings cross-disciplinary expertise and holds 32 US patents.

The company was founded in 2018 as a UC Berkeley spinout, built on pioneering research from the university's synthetic biology programs.

Funding & Strategic Backing

Ansa Biotechnologies has secured over $122 million in funding across two major rounds, demonstrating strong investor confidence in enzymatic DNA synthesis.

The company closed an oversubscribed $68 million Series A in April 2022, led by Northpond Ventures with participation from RA Capital, Blue Water Life Science Advisors, Altitude Life Science Ventures, Fiscus Ventures, PEAK6 Strategic Capital, Carbon Silicon Ventures, Codon Capital, and existing investors including Mubadala Capital, Humboldt Fund, Fifty Years, and Horizons Ventures.

Most recently, in September 2025, Ansa announced a $54.4 million Series B financing round, of which $45.2 million has closed with the remaining $9.2 million in committed capital. The round was led by Cerberus Ventures, with new investors including Fall Line Capital, AIM13, and Black Opal Ventures, alongside continued participation from Blue Water Life Science Advisors, Altitude Life Science Ventures, and other existing backers.

As part of the Series B, Chenny Zhang (Director at Cerberus Ventures) and Yanniv Dorone, PhD (Senior Vice President at Fall Line Capital) joined Ansa's board of directors, bringing diverse industry experience and technical expertise to support long-term strategic goals.

This substantial funding will enable Ansa to scale manufacturing capacity in the United States, enhance customer experience, and continue developing strategic partnerships and technological innovations. The investment supports the company's mission to transition the industry from genome reading (DNA sequencing) to genome writing (DNA synthesis).

Commercial Products & Service Offerings

Ansa Biotechnologies launched its first commercial products in July 2024 following a successful early access program that served researchers worldwide. The company now offers:

• Ansa Clonal DNA: Sequence-perfect clonal genes up to 7.5 kb, delivered in a format ready for immediate experimental use. This product provides researchers with the highest accuracy for applications requiring perfect fidelity.
• Ansa DNA Fragments: Sequence-verified linear double-stranded DNA fragments up to 600 bp, offering faster turnaround for researchers who need reliable DNA quickly. These fragments are synthesized as complete, contiguous oligonucleotides without requiring assembly—a capability unique to Ansa.
• 50 kb Ultra-Long DNA (Early Access): Launched in May 2025, this program offers constructs up to 50 kb in under four weeks, enabling advanced applications in genomics, agriculture, and cell and gene therapy. The pilot program has already served prestigious laboratories including those of George Church at Harvard Medical School and Jay Shendure at the University of Washington.

Market Position & Competitive Landscape

The race to reinvent DNA synthesis is accelerating. Industry forecasts estimate the enzymatic DNA synthesis market could grow from roughly $360 million in 2025 to as much as $4 billion by 2035, driven by demand from synthetic biology, therapeutics, vaccines, and agricultural biotech. The numbers are striking, but they tell a simple story: everyone wants faster, cleaner, more scalable ways to make DNA.

Ansa operates in a crowded but exciting field. Competitors like DNA Script, Molecular Assemblies, Twist Bioscience, and Telesis Bio are all betting on different versions of enzymatic or hybrid synthesis. Most approaches, however, still rely on incremental improvements to existing chemistry or struggle with precision at scale.

Ansa’s method stands apart. Its TdT-dNTP conjugate platform doesn’t tweak the old process—it replaces it. By controlling single-base additions with enzyme precision, Ansa can synthesize complete DNA strands up to 600 base pairs without assembly and is pushing toward 50 kilobase constructs through its early access programs. That’s not a marginal upgrade. It’s a step-change in what can be built directly and how fast it can be delivered.

The company also competes on reliability. DNA synthesis delays are notorious in research, and Ansa’s on-time delivery guarantee is the kind of operational promise researchers rarely get but desperately want. As Chenny Zhang of Cerberus Ventures put it, “Ansa’s guaranteed approach fills a huge unmet need and should become the new standard for DNA synthesis.”

Partnerships with groups like the Innovative Genomics Institute, founded by Jennifer Doudna, further validate the technology’s relevance. These collaborations show that Ansa’s platform isn’t theoretical—it’s already being put to work in advanced microbial and community genomics research.

Looking Ahead

Ansa Biotechnologies is operating at the edge of a turning point for synthetic biology. By solving DNA synthesis bottlenecks that have persisted for decades, the company is helping researchers move faster from design to experiment to product.

Its roadmap is ambitious. After launching 600 bp fragments in 2024, Ansa expanded to 50 kb constructs in 2025 and plans to fully commercialize ultra-long DNA synthesis in the near future. That progression opens doors for synthetic genomics, metabolic engineering, agricultural innovation, and next-generation gene and cell therapies—fields that have long been limited by DNA length and quality.

With new funding behind it, Ansa is scaling U.S. manufacturing, tightening turnaround times, and deepening strategic partnerships. The company’s focus on precision, complexity handling, and dependability could set new expectations for the entire industry.

If enzymatic DNA synthesis becomes the default way to write biology, Ansa is well positioned to help define that standard.