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If anyone will enable the world to engineer biology, it's Gingko. Their team has built a platform for biological engineering since day 1. This is the summary:
by tito 5y ago
If anyone will enable the world to engineer biology, it's Gingko.
Their team has built a platform for biological engineering since day 1.
This is the summary:
* platform for engineering biology (unfair advantage is they've taken this "not a product company" approach since 2009)
* investing up the ecosystem by taking upside in products they engineer for larger companies (not sure if they have an unfair advantage here besides creative financing and momentum, IPO helps with that)
* investing downstream into startups by providing their platform in exchange for equity (YCbio partnership seems like an unfair advantage here)
* mindshare of new minds (iGEM itself is a breeding ground for future synbio employees and leaders who dream of joining Ginkgo, Ginkgo founders co-created iGEM)
Pretty perfect flywheel right there, even if it risks being a spaghetti monster from a corporate structure and cashflow standpoint.
So cool to see this finally coming to light as an IPO. While I don't understand the SPAC benefits, Ginkgo's structure to be able to invest resources into synbio startups in an equity exchange sets them up really well for future cashflow even if the present is not.
(Disclosure Ginkgo bought lab equipment from me in the early days, and I just bought their stock today) https://www.ginkgobioworks.com/2009/09/01/pearl-biotech-open-gel-unboxing/ https://www.ginkgobioworks.com/2009/09/01/pearl-biotech-open...
- fouc 5y agosynbio.. wow, talk about flashbacks to genetic hacking cyber punk scifi
- neural_thing 5y agoI sold my Ginkgo today. I like the company but... Most of their revenue is stock in affiliated companies. I don't think they have a real business today, and the valuation is insane. Amyris actually has a synthetic biology business. It's less flashy but it's real.
- Kiro 5y agoHow come you had Ginkgo stocks?
- neural_thing 5y agoI bought shares in the SPAC a few weeks ago, expected a jump on the IPO news, it worked out.
- subrat_rout 5y agoHow do you buy shares in the SPAC? Is there a minimum amount? Which platform can I use to buy shares in the SPAC?
- neural_thing 5y agoSPACs are publicly traded. The announcement that Soaring Eagle was taking Ginkgo public was made in May. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ginkgo-bioworks-to-become-a-public-company-and-expand-its-leading-platform-for-cell-programming-301288325.html https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ginkgo-bioworks-to-... No special access is needed to trade SPACs, just need to follow the news. That being said, I think that most SPACs are pretty bad deals.
- exhilaration 5y agoHave any other YC companies announced SPACs like this? :)
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- mbesto 5y agoDisclaimer - Not financial advice SPAC's are incredibly risky. When they IPO they basically are shell companies with no operating revenue. So their valuations are essentially fake (some get better market caps because the people who create them have "track records"). Once a startup converts into them their valuation becomes much more interesting. It's a huge gamble. A SPAC that hasn't converted yet is essentially a guessing game. If the SPAC is valued at $500M pre conversion and the market doesn't think the company is worth $500M then you can lose a lot. The opposite is also true. Note - its much more complex than this, but this is the general idea.