A Norwich-based biotech firm is developing sustainable natural rubber from specially engineered dandelions.
QuberTech recently raised £3.4 million in combined grant funding and equity investment to accelerate development of its engineering biology platform and scale commercial operations.
The funding backs QuberTech’s engineering biology platform and experienced scientific team, whose expertise spans plant biotechnology, genome editing and scaling transformative technologies from lab to commercial reality.
The company’s R&D is focused on engineering high-yield dandelion strains capable of producing sustainable natural rubber and other valuable bio-based products.
Natural rubber is one of the world’s most strategically important industrial materials, used across sectors ranging from automotive and healthcare to manufacturing and defence.
Global supply chains are heavily reliant on imported rubber sourced from a narrow tropical growing belt increasingly exposed to climate pressures, disease, geopolitical disruption and tightening environmental regulation.
QuberTech has developed an alternative approach using advanced biotechnology to cultivate high-yield dandelions capable of producing high-quality natural rubber and other valuable bio-based compounds in controlled growing environments.
Unlike traditional rubber trees, which can take years to mature and are limited to tropical regions, dandelions can be cultivated rapidly in scalable, localised systems closer to industrial demand centres.
Alongside natural rubber production, QuberTech’s platform can also generate additional high-value bio-based materials, including compounds with applications across food, cosmetics, sustainable packaging and advanced biomaterials.
The company has also received support through Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme, delivered in partnership with Innovate UK, recognising the potential for advanced biotechnology and precision breeding approaches to support more resilient and sustainable industrial supply chains.
Dr. Ofir Meir, QuberTech CEO, said: “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.
“Global supply chains are increasingly exposed to environmental, geopolitical and commercial pressures.
“At QuberTech, we’re developing a new generation of sustainable biomaterials using engineering biology to create resilient, locally produced alternatives to imported natural rubber.
“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.
“We believe engineering biology can fundamentally reshape how strategically important industrial materials are produced – creating more sustainable, secure and scalable supply chains for the future.”
Oliver Sexton, Investment Director at UKI2S (managed by Future Planet Capital), added: “Natural rubber keeps the world moving, yet global supply chains remain reliant on imported sources that are vulnerable to disruption.
“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.
“Alongside rubber itself, the platform also creates valuable secondary biomaterials with applications across multiple industries – demonstrating the enormous potential of engineering biology to reshape global supply chains and manufacturing.”
Josh Armistead-Wood, Senior Investment Associate at Sustainable Ventures, added: “QuberTech is tackling a major global sustainability and supply chain challenge with a genuinely innovative biotechnology platform.
“Their approach has the potential to create a far more sustainable and resilient alternative while unlocking additional value through bio-based co-products.”
As industries worldwide seek more resilient and sustainable supply chains, demand is growing for alternative biomaterials capable of reducing environmental impact while strengthening domestic manufacturing capability.
