Biomemory, a startup operating between biotech and IT, has just secured €5 million for its solution to data storage. The Paris-based team has developed DNA-based data storage that aims to cut down on carbon emissions and costs.
As data continues to play a pivotal role in society, attention is turning to how its stored and the sustainability of existing processes. It’s reported that around 60% of data generated today is stored on magnetic tapes – and it’s got a carbon footprint greater than civil aviation.
Founded in 2021, Biomemory might have the solution to that and investors are taking note. The Paris-based startup just raised €5 million for its innovative DNA-based data storage solution.
The details:
- €5 million raised in a seed round
- The round was led by eureKARE and the French Tech Seed Fund, managed by Bpifrance
- Paris Business Angels, Prunay Impact and existing investors also participated
Erfane Arwani, President and co-founder of Biomemory, said: “The significant support we have received from our investors – including deeptech specialists at Bpifrance and synthetic biology experts eureKARE – is evidence of both the importance of transitioning from conventional data storage solutions to more ecological approaches and the ability of Biomemory to tackle the challenge.”
Biomemory is a unique startup, operating at the meeting point of biotechnology and IT, and it’s on a mission to pioneer the DNA data storage space. The Parisian startup is aiming to use its approach to meet the climate challenge posed by data centres, and tap into the lucrative data storage market.
The innovative startup is developing a petrol-free DNA synthesis and copy process based on synthetic biology, exploiting mechanisms refined over 4 billion years of evolution. Its technologies enable the production of long, bio-sourced, biocompatible and bio-secure DNA fragments that can be stored as inert polymers for thousands of years without any energy input.
Current DNA synthesis solutions used for medical and academic research applications cost $1/kilobyte. Biomemory, through its innovative solutions, currently has the potential to reduce this cost to $1/megabyte.
Now, with this new funding, the team will be able to optimise these technologies – aiming to reduce costs even further to $1/terabyte. This compares to the 10-year cost of $17/terabyte for magnetic tapes. To achieve this, Biomemory will focus on miniaturization, automation and parallelization of an end-to-end integrated and continuous microfluidic DNA assembly device.
Alexandre Mouradian, Chairman, Founder, and Chief Executive Officer of eureKARE, commented: “With close to 30 zettabytes generated annually, it is clear that data storage is a major challenge for our generation, and the market demand for data storage solutions is growing fast. We are pleased to be investing in novel, sustainable and low-cost DNA data storage approaches that aim to fill this gap in the market by revolutionizing how we store data.”
