A SCOTTISH biotech business that has developed a process for making natural blue and green food colourings has bolstered its board with a trio of appointments.
Scot Bio, which is based in the BioCity incubator on the outskirts of Glasgow, has added former Robert Wiseman Dairies directors Martyn Mulcahy and David Dobbins as well as Sorbon Investments finance director Nick Trott.
Mr Mulcahy and Mr Dobbins were previously operations director and commercial director respectively at Robert Wiseman while Mr Trott maintains his position at Sorbon.
Sorbon, which is owned by the businessman behind the Shanly Group, Michael Shanly, is a significant investor in Scot Bio, while Mr Mulcahy and Dobbins, as well as former Robert Wiseman chief executive Robert Wiseman, were early-stage backers of the business.
Scot Bio chairman Tom Craig said the appointments would “bring unrivalled skills and experience in building businesses in the food sector” while its chief executive, Polly Van Alstyne, said the additions would help the business to realise its ambition of becoming “the world leader in the production of phycocyanin and other functional food ingredients”.
“Scot Bio is at an extremely exciting stage with patented IP, significant new investment and an exceptional team of scientists behind it. With the guidance of our outstanding board we are looking confidently to the future,” Mr Craig said.
“Our new directors have built one of the most successful food sector businesses in recent years and we will be working with them to make Scot Bio another success story,” Ms Van Alstyne added.
Scot Bio, which works in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh and Newcastle University, first received regulatory approval for its colourants in 2013.
Having originally raised £500,000 of seed finance in 2017, it closed a £2 million round at the end of last year with the aim of significantly scaling the business.
That fundraising was backed by investment syndicate Kelvin Capital, Investing Women, Oghma Partners and private investors in the UK and US.
The firm plans to use the cash to open four factories to help it expands the use of its patented system, which involves stimulating growth of natural algae pigment with a complex lighting sequence and frequency.
The new funding will allow the company to up its production and expand the existing team.
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