London, UK, 5th October 2016 / Sciad Newswire/ SynbiCITE and Rainbow Seed Fund today announce that Sir Richard Sykes, Chairman of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, Chairman of Imperial College Healthcare and Chancellor of Brunel University, will act as Chair of judges for theBio-start competition judging panel in 2017.Bio-start, a new annual competition founded by SynbiCITE and Rainbow Seed Fund, aims to incentivize innovative early-stage companies and people with great engineering biology ideas. Winners of this not-for-profit competition will receive a £100k cash prize, along with laboratory space, a ten-week accelerator programme with mentorship, consumables and professional services valued at ~£100k.Sir Richard Sykes brings to the judging panel over 30 years’ experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. During a distinguished career, Sir Richard has held many influential and senior roles in the UK and abroad including being Chairman of NHS London, Rector of Imperial College London, Senior Independent Director of Rio Tinto plc, Chief Executive and Chairman of GlaxoWellcome and later GlaxoSmithkline.“Synthetic Biology is a key high-growth emerging technology in the UK, and I look forward helping select a future early-stage synthetic biology innovator,” commented Sir Richard.Competition participants are encouraged to register on the Bio-start website by 14 October 2016. Application areas can be in healthcare, clean tech, industrial biotech or any sector that makes use of synthetic biology. Selection of the winning entry will take place at the final award ceremony Spring 2017. Full competition details can be found at www.bio-start.uk.ENDS

For more information contact the SynbiCITE team:

Steve Chambers, CEOstephen.chambers@synbicite.comT: +44 (0) 20 7594 9902

Media Relations, Sciad Communications:

Richard Andersonrichard@sciad.comT: +44 (0)20 74708801

Biotechnology