Terra Bioforge

What Terra Bioforge does

Terra Bioforge is a privately held synthetic biology company founded in 2021 and headquartered at 3220 Deming Way in Middleton, Wisconsin. The company operates an integrated platform for discovering and manufacturing microbial natural products, combining proprietary gene-cluster manipulation tools (BIGDNA®, DNAtrap®), expression engineering tools (BGCexpress®, BGCrefactor®, CleanChassis™), AI-driven analytics (Prospect Fungi, Metabologenomics), and a fungal production platform (MycoDrive™). The core technology addresses historical bottlenecks in working with biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) — particularly their large size, repetitive sequences, and GC-rich nature — and the company states it makes natural product discovery and manufacturing 10-100x faster than traditional methods, with claimed 2-3x higher titers from BGCexpress® and ~30x higher titers from MycoDrive™. The Metabologenomics platform links biosynthetic gene clusters to the metabolites they produce using genomic sequencing, metabolite profiling, and AI-driven analysis, and is supported by correlative analyses of more than 2,500 fungi and proprietary BIGDNA® Soil Metagenomic Libraries carrying 100 kb inserts with a stated BGC rediscovery rate below 0.01%.

The company generates revenue through three streams: custom research and lab services (pathway identification, engineering, heterologous expression, and fungal metabologenomics); licensing and access to its proprietary synthetic biology tools; and partner access to its metagenomic libraries. Pricing is entirely quote-based with multi-year contracts, and go-to-market is sales-led via direct email inquiry ([email protected], [email protected]), conference participation (SIMB, American Society of Pharmacognosy, PGPR Workshop, RAFT, AHNTI Europe), and peer-reviewed publication. Named customers span enterprise pharmaceutical, agriculture, and animal health players — Bayer Crop Science, BASF, Syngenta, Elanco, LifeMine, SINTEF, Medina, DEINOVE, Lassogen, Lodo Therapeutics, Warp Drive Bio, Quantum-Si — alongside academic and government research institutions including Harvard, Northwestern, UW-Madison, UC San Diego, John Innes Centre, Joint BioEnergy Institute, and Hans Knöll Institute. The company was co-founded by David Mead (former Lucigen founder, exited to LGC in 2018; inventor of TA cloning; 63 publications, 11 patents), Mark Liles, and Neil Kelleher, and has been funded to date through non-dilutive sources including a $100,000 HudsonAlpha-gener8tor AgTech Accelerator investment and a Phase I SBIR grant (R43AI174407) from NIH/NIAID.

Name

Terra Bioforge

Legal name

Terra Bioforge

Website

https://terrabioforge.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Terra Bioforge operates an integrated synthetic biology platform for capturing, engineering, and expressing microbial biosynthetic gene clusters to discover and manufacture natural products. It serves pharmaceutical, agriculture, and animal health customers through custom lab services, proprietary tool licensing, and metagenomic library access.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Synthetic Biology Research Services

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Synthetic Biology & Genetic Circuit Design Platforms (pathway engineering, chassis development) (HLAAAIAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Data, Digital Twin & Advanced Analytics for Biomanufacturing (AI/ML, multivariate, historian) (HLAAAJAM), Bioprocess Development & Scale-Up/Scale-Down Platforms (DoE, high-throughput, modeling) (HLAAAJAF), Process Development & Tech Transfer Services (upstream/downstream) (HLAAAKAF)

Keywords

• Synthetic biology platform
• Natural product discovery
• Biosynthetic gene clusters
• Microbial strain engineering
• Fungal genome engineering

Headquarters

HQ city

Middleton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Research and Lab Services: Custom solutions for pathway identification, pathway engineering, heterologous expression, and fungal metabologenomics provided to customers via direct inquiry and quote-based engagement.
2. Technology Access/Licensing: Customers access proprietary synthetic biology tools (BIGDNA®, DNAtrap®, BGCexpress®, BGCrefactor®, MycoDrive™) and patented technologies for their own natural product discovery and production needs.
3. BIGDNA® Soil Metagenomic Libraries Access: Partners gain access to differentiated metagenomic resources containing 100 kb inserts and functional screening capabilities for identifying proprietary natural products.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Terra Bioforge has built a synthetic biology platform to discover and manufacture valuable natural products from fungi and other microbes 10-100 times faster than traditional methods. The company provides custom research and lab services—spanning pathway identification, pathway engineering, heterologous expression, and fungal metabologenomics—using proprietary tools such as BIGDNA®/DNAtrap®, BGCexpress®, BGCrefactor®, the Metabologenomics Platform, CleanChassis™ engineered hosts, and the MycoDrive™ fungal engineering platform. Customers also gain access to BIGDNA® Soil Metagenomic Libraries containing 100 kb inserts for proprietary natural product identification.

Product overview

Terra Bioforge offers an integrated synthetic biology platform for discovering and manufacturing microbial natural products 10-100x faster than traditional methods. The platform combines BIGDNA® tools (including DNAtrap® for BGC capture and cloning up to 150 kb), expression engineering tools (BGCexpress® and BGCrefactor® for pathway activation and optimization), the Metabologenomics Platform with AI-driven Prospect Fungi analytics, and CleanChassis™ engineered host strains. For fungal applications, MycoDrive™ provides next-generation genome engineering achieving ~30x higher titers. Foundational technologies include BAC, PKS, NRPS, and hybrid PKS-NRPS systems. The company also provides bacterial engineering services and partnering solutions including metagenomic libraries. Terra Bioforge has captured and expressed natural product pathways over 134 times for customers at a rate ~10x faster than conventionally possible.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• BIGDNA®: Tools for manipulating Biosynthetic Gene Clusters (BGCs) including DNAtrap® for capturing and modifying large gene clusters up to 150 kb.
• DNAtrap®
• BGCexpress®
• BGCrefactor®
• MycoDrive™
• CleanChassis™

Products and services

• BIGDNA® A suite of proprietary tools for capturing and modifying large biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) that encode natural product recipes. Enables cloning of very large gene clusters (up to 150 kb) that are repetitive or GC-rich, and effectively captures BGCs from complex genomic DNA or metagenomic library substrates. Sold/licensed to pharmaceutical, agricultural, and biotech customers for their own natural product discovery and production.
• DNAtrap® A BIGDNA® tool for capturing and cloning entire biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) from any microbe, including those from complex genomic DNA or metagenomic library substrates. DNAtrap® has been used to clone more than 130 intact BGCs to date and is accessed by customers for natural product discovery and development.
• BGCexpress® Tool that predictably activates natural product pathways on demand, boosting yields while maintaining healthy growth. Delivers 2-3x higher titers, making promising molecules easier to identify and advance. Sold/licensed to customers for natural product screening and titer optimization workflows.
• BGCrefactor® Multiplexed, marker-free workflow that streamlines redesign of entire biosynthetic gene clusters, removing genetic roadblocks to enable higher-performing production strains and accelerating pathway optimization end-to-end.
• Metabologenomics Platform Data-driven platform that links what an organism can produce (its genome) with what it actually produces (its metabolites) by combining genomic sequencing and metabolite profiling with AI-driven analysis. Maps every molecule a microbe makes back to its exact genetic recipe, automating the link between biosynthetic gene clusters and commercially valuable molecules.
• Prospect Fungi Proprietary AI analysis tool for in silico prediction and annotation of fungal biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs). An AI platform that grows and learns from known BGC:Natural Product relationships and supports the Metabologenomics Platform.
• Haystack-MS Targeted cloning tool that solves the needle-in-a-haystack problem of finding target compounds in complex metabolite mixtures, rapidly identifying and producing natural products via heterologous expression.
• CleanChassis™ Engineered microbial host strains (Streptomyces, Bacillus, Aspergillus, and Gram-negative bacteria) optimized to reduce competing metabolite production, providing optimal heterologous expression of natural products. Portfolio of strains expands access for every BGC of interest.
• MycoDrive™ Next-generation genome engineering platform that turns filamentous fungi into ultra-efficient production hosts, delivering dramatically higher yields in a fraction of the time compared with incumbent methods. Case study showed ~30x higher bikaverin expression over incumbent genome engineering methods.
• Bacterial Engineering Services Engineering services for bacteria including Bacillus, Paenibacillus, and Streptomyces for beneficial applications in animal health, agriculture, environmental remediation, and human health. Services include optimizing plant-growth promotion, stable fluorescent labeling, secretion of peptides and small molecules for pathogen suppression, and plastic-degrading enzymes. Case study delivered up to 50-fold improvement in beneficial activity through strain engineering of a plant-associated Bacillus.
• Partnering Services (Custom Research and Lab Services) Custom research and lab services including pathway identification (using patented bioinformatics, metabolomics, and machine learning workflows), pathway engineering (synthetic biology tools to capture and manipulate BGCs), heterologous expression (scale-up in optimized hosts), and fungal metabologenomics. Quote-based, multi-year engagements for enterprise and academic customers.
• BIGDNA® Soil Metagenomic Libraries Metagenomic libraries containing 100 kb inserts ensuring more full-length pathways are captured, with two unique libraries sourced from separate ecologies providing broad biological diversity and a low (<0.01%) BGC rediscovery rate. Partners gain access to differentiated resources for identifying proprietary natural products.

Quantifiable outcome

• 10-100x faster discovery and manufacturing compared to traditional methods
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers24 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature14 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Bayer Crop SciencecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommercial customer using Terra Bioforge's synthetic biology platform for natural product discovery and development services in the agriculture sector.
• BASFcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommercial customer utilizing Terra Bioforge's platform for agricultural biotechnology applications.
• SyngentacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommercial customer for natural product discovery and production services in crop protection.
• ElancocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommercial customer in animal health sector using Terra Bioforge's microbial engineering capabilities.
• LifeMinecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBiotechnology company partner for fungal natural product discovery and development.
• HudsonAlpha Institute for BiotechnologycoreGTM or Marketing PartnerPartner in the AgTech Accelerator program, providing access to extensive worldwide network of agriculture technology experts, customers, corporate partners, and investors.
• gener8torcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerVenture firm and startup accelerator providing $100K investment and 12-week concierge-level mentorship through the AgTech Accelerator program.
• Nancy Keller (UW-Madison)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-founder and research partner collaborating on SBIR grant project for enfumafungin analog discovery and development.
• Neil Kelleher (Northwestern University)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-founder and research partner collaborating on SBIR grant project and metabologenomics platform development.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Pivot Bio: Pivot Bio engineers nitrogen-fixing and other beneficial crop microbes for agriculture. It shares Terra Bioforge's agricultural customer overlap (Bayer, Syngenta) and its microbial engineering stack, though focused on a narrower agronomic use case.
• Inscripta: Inscripta (now Onyx Genomics) developed a benchtop platform for genome-scale engineering of microbial strains. Its gene editing and strain engineering tools overlap with Terra Bioforge's BGCrefactor® and CleanChassis™ host optimization offerings.
• Culture Biosciences: Culture Biosciences provides cloud-based fermentation and bioprocess R&D services for microbial strains. It competes for bioprocess development, scale-up, and CleanChassis-style expression services that are central to Terra Bioforge's heterologous expression offerings.
• Conagen: Conagen is a synthetic biology and fermentation company that discovers and manufactures natural products including enzymes, peptides, and small molecules via proprietary strain engineering. Like Terra Bioforge it focuses on microbial natural products for food, beauty, and pharma end-markets using proprietary BGC and pathway tools.
• Telesis Bio: Telesis Bio (formerly Codex DNA) provides automated synthetic biology workflows for gene synthesis, BGC assembly, and protein expression. It sells enabling tools that compete with BIGDNA®/DNAtrap® in the BGC capture and large-clone market that Terra Bioforge serves.
• Locus Biosciences: Locus Biosciences engineers phage- and CRISPR-based antimicrobials via synthetic biology and microbial engineering. It draws on the same BGC and natural product discovery approach for therapeutic applications that Terra Bioforge's platform enables.

Broad incumbents

• Novonesis: Novonesis (the merged Novozymes and Chr. Hansen) is a global industrial enzymes and microbial products incumbent with deep strain engineering and biomanufacturing capabilities. It competes in adjacent end-markets and serves the same agricultural and industrial customers as Terra Bioforge.
• Ginkgo Bioworks: Ginkgo Bioworks operates a large-scale cell programming platform with codeable BGCs and natural product discovery capabilities across pharma and agriculture. It is a broader incumbent with much larger capital base and foundry automation, but overlaps directly with Terra Bioforge's core synthetic biology for natural products.
• Amyris: Amyris built a yeast-based synthetic biology platform to manufacture natural-product ingredients at industrial scale. It overlaps with Terra Bioforge's specialty chemicals focus but operates as a downstream ingredient producer rather than a discovery service provider.

Emerging players

• TeselaGen: TeselaGen provides AI-driven design and LIMS software for synthetic biology workflows including pathway and strain engineering. It is an enabling technology peer that complements, and partially substitutes for, parts of Terra Bioforge's Metabologenomics analytics stack.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors3 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Terra Bioforge