Key Takeaways
- QuberTech has raised £3.4 million ($4.6M) in combined grant funding and equity investment to accelerate its engineering biology platform for sustainable natural rubber production from engineered dandelions.
- The company uses specially engineered, high-yield dandelions grown in controlled environments as a locally scalable alternative to imported tropical rubber tree cultivation.
- QuberTech's platform also generates additional bio-based compounds with applications in food, cosmetics, sustainable packaging, and advanced biomaterials.
- The company has received support through Defra's Farming Innovation Programme, delivered with Innovate UK, recognising the potential of precision breeding for resilient industrial supply chains.
- Funding will accelerate R&D, team expansion, and pilot-scale validation ahead of commercial deployment; equity was supported by UKI2S, managed by Future Planet Capital.
QuberTech Raises $4.6M to Develop Sustainable Natural Rubber from Engineered Dandelions
QuberTech, a UK biotechnology company, has secured $4.6M in combined grant funding and equity investment to scale its engineering biology platform for producing sustainable natural rubber. The company has developed an approach using specially engineered, high-yield dandelions cultivated in controlled growing environments as a domestic alternative to imported natural rubber, a strategically critical material currently sourced almost entirely from a narrow tropical growing belt facing mounting climate, disease, and geopolitical risks.
Why Dandelions Could Disrupt Global Rubber Supply Chains
Natural rubber underpins supply chains across automotive, healthcare, manufacturing, and defence. Conventional production depends on rubber trees that require years to mature and are confined to tropical regions increasingly exposed to supply disruption and tightening environmental regulation. QuberTech's dandelion-based platform offers a fundamentally different approach: crops that can be cultivated rapidly in scalable, localised systems positioned closer to industrial demand centres. Alongside rubber, the platform yields additional bio-based materials with applications in food, cosmetics, sustainable packaging, and advanced biomaterials.
“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,” said Dr Ofir Meir, Chief Executive Officer of QuberTech.
Government Recognition and QuberTech Investor Backing
QuberTech has also received support through Defra's Farming Innovation Programme, delivered in partnership with Innovate UK, recognising the potential of advanced biotechnology and precision breeding to strengthen industrial supply chain resilience. The equity component of the raise was supported by UKI2S, managed by Future Planet Capital.
“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,” said Oliver Sexton, Investment Director at UKI2S.
