{"id":804,"date":"2016-10-11T17:33:31","date_gmt":"2016-10-11T17:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rsoftsolution.com\/blog\/breakout-labs-backs-4-startups-that-are-reprogramming-nature.html"},"modified":"2016-10-11T17:33:31","modified_gmt":"2016-10-11T17:33:31","slug":"breakout-labs-backs-4-startups-that-are-reprogramming-nature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbsitsoftwaresolution.in\/blog\/breakout-labs-backs-4-startups-that-are-reprogramming-nature.html","title":{"rendered":"Breakout Labs backs 4 startups that are \u201creprogramming nature\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"


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A venture fund that backs very early-stage advanced tech and science startups, Breakout Labs<\/a>, has invested in 4 new deals, according to founder and Managing Partner Lindy Fishburne.<\/p>\n

The fund, which is part of the Thiel Foundation<\/a>, typically invests $350,000 in each startup, with no strings attached. If a startup\u2019s research and development does not lead to commercialization as\u00a0hoped, Breakout Labs does not seek any money back, and counts the cash it has invested as a grant.<\/p>\n

If a\u00a0company succeeds enough to go on to raise outside venture capital, Breakout Labs gets the option to buy shares at a discounted price as compared to new investors.<\/p>\n

And if Breakout Labs companies are acquired or go public, generating returns for investors, the fund puts all of its returns into future grants for other advanced tech and science startups. Fishburne calls this model of investing \u201cventure philanthropy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Breakout Labs also pays for startup founders it has newly backed to travel to San Francisco for quarterly meetings with one another, and for its annual\u00a0\u201cUnboxing day,\u201d where founders\u00a0can\u00a0show off their research,\u00a0and network with potential strategic partners and venture investors.<\/p>\n

Fishburne said if there\u2019s one unifying theme among the companies it has backed to-date, it\u2019s the idea of \u201creprogramming\u201d nature.\u00a0\u201cWe can reprogram, build and upcycle what we need from what already exists in nature, rather than passively relying on nature to deliver it to us,\u201d Fishburne said.<\/p>\n

Breakout Labs has invested in 30 companies so far\u00a0in the fields of biotech, data and materials science, and energy. Seven of those companies have gone on to raise Series A and two have closed Series B rounds.<\/p>\n

The four new startups that Breakout Labs has invested in are:<\/p>\n