QuberTech has raised £3.4m in combined grant funding and equity investment to accelerate development of its biotechnology platform that produces sustainable natural rubber from specially engineered dandelions.
The funding marks a major milestone for the UK biotech company as it looks to tackle one of manufacturing’s growing strategic challenges: securing resilient and sustainable supplies of natural rubber.
Used extensively across automotive, healthcare, manufacturing and defence industries, natural rubber remains one of the world’s most critical industrial materials. However, global supply chains are heavily dependent on imported rubber sourced from a narrow tropical growing region increasingly vulnerable to climate change, disease, geopolitical instability and tightening environmental regulations.
QuberTech believes its engineering biology platform could offer a transformative alternative.
Rather than relying on traditional rubber trees, which take years to mature and can only grow in tropical climates, the company is developing high-yield dandelions capable of producing natural rubber and other valuable biomaterials in scalable, localised growing systems closer to industrial demand.
The business says its technology could help strengthen domestic manufacturing resilience while significantly reducing the environmental pressures associated with conventional rubber production.
“As pressure grows on global natural rubber supply chains, every country will need to secure more resilient and sustainable access to this critical industrial material.
“At QuberTech, we’re developing a new generation of sustainable biomaterials using engineering biology to create resilient, locally produced alternatives to imported natural rubber.”
– Dr Ofir Meir, Chief Executive Officer of QuberTech.
Alongside natural rubber itself, the company’s biotechnology platform can also generate additional high-value bio-based compounds with applications across food, cosmetics, sustainable packaging and advanced materials.
The funding will support further R&D, expansion of the company’s scientific team and pilot-scale validation of its technology as it moves closer towards commercial deployment.
The company has also received backing through Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme, delivered in partnership with Innovate UK, recognising the role advanced biotechnology could play in building more sustainable industrial supply chains.
Investors backing the company believe the technology has the potential to reshape how strategically important industrial materials are produced.
Oliver Sexton, Investment Director at UKI2S, managed by Future Planet Capital, described natural rubber as essential infrastructure for modern industry.
“Natural rubber keeps the world moving, yet global supply chains remain reliant on imported sources that are vulnerable to disruption,” he said.
“QuberTech offers a compelling sustainable alternative.”
The announcement comes amid growing momentum behind engineering biology and sustainable materials innovation across UK manufacturing, as industries seek greener, more resilient alternatives to globally exposed raw material supply chains.
With demand for sustainable industrial materials continuing to rise, QuberTech is positioning itself at the forefront of a new generation of biotech-enabled manufacturing solutions, proving that even humble dandelions may have a major role to play in the future of global industry.
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