10th October 2017 - Oxford Biotrans has announced that it has closed £2.1m in new funding. The investment was led by Touchstone Innovations (formerly Imperial Innovations) with participation from existing shareholders including the University of Oxford and Oxford Investment Consultants/Oxford Technology and Innovations EIS Fund, alongside new investment from Perivoli Innovations.The company commercialises new natural routes to high value chemicals, based on its patented enzyme technology. The first product is natural grade nootkatone, the flavour and scent of grapefruit, which the company began to manufacture in commercial quantities earlier this year.Oxford Biotrans has capitalised on achieving this manufacturing milestone by raising further funding, which it will deploy to accelerate commercialisation of a pipeline of products that spans several market sectors. The company will realise scalable, ‘green’, and economically attractive enzymatic processes for production of these compounds; several such processes have already been brought to an advanced stage of development in the company’s own laboratories.Robert Bahns, Director Technology Ventures at Touchstone Innovations, added: “We are very excited that OBT has now successfully scaled up its process for production of natural Nootkatone and will begin supplying customers through its distribution partner in early 2018.”Will Barton, Chairman of Oxford Biotrans said: “We are delighted that our major investors have continued to support us through this new funding round and that we have also been able to attract a new investor to the fold. The business has built a solid foundation that now supports a step up in headcount and work space which will be exploited to take our exciting pipeline of development products to market.”Oxford Biotrans is a University of Oxford spin-out company supported by over 20 years of research by Dr Luet Lok Wong from the Department of Chemistry. The company will develop and commercialise enzymatic process technologies that yield high-value chemical compounds.