Baird Capital Portfolio Company GreenLight Biosciences Raises $17M for COVID-19 Vaccine Production

GreenLight Biosciences today announced it had closed an oversubscribed $17M special purpose funding round to build out its scalable mRNA production capability targeting the production of billions of doses of COVID-19 vaccine. In addition to expanding its manufacturing capacity, GreenLight is developing several differentiated mRNA vaccine candidates against SARS-CoV2, the virus responsible for COVID-19. This initiative is an integral part of the company’s expansion into life sciences, which include efforts to develop a large-scale vaccine platform targeting seasonal and pandemic influenza, and rapid response to emerging viruses, such as the novel coronavirus.

“GreenLight’s team and technology make them uniquely positioned to quickly bring large-scale, practical solutions to market for rapid pandemic response,” said Mike Liang, Partner at Baird Capital. “GreenLight’s approach promises the billions of doses needed with significantly faster manufacturing times than other technology platforms. Baird Capital believes GreenLight has the potential to be a critical part of us getting back to a healthy, functioning economy in the shortest possible time, and we are proud to support this team of talented scientists and researchers in their efforts.”

GreenLight is a bio-performance company with a unique, cell-free production platform that delivers high-performing RNA solutions to human, plant and animal challenges. GreenLight develops RNA products for plant and life science applications and collaborates with industry leaders to advance vaccine development, pandemic preparation, crop management, and plant protection. The cutting-edge, natural platform delivers higher-quality RNA at a lower cost and higher speed than was ever before possible.