Jonathan Milner appointed Interim CEO; Mark Kotter assumes Vice Chairman role as Company expands Board with distinguished biotech leaders.
Cambridge, UK – bit.bio, the global leader in cell programming technology, announces the successful closing of a $30 million financing round led by M&G Investments, a leading international savings and investment company. Existing investors, including ARCH Venture Partners, BlueYard Capital, Milky Way, Puhua Capital, and Tencent, participated in the round.
M&G’s investment is through M&G’s Crossover strategy, a global initiative led by M&G’s public equity investment division to provide growth equity to high-quality, fast-growing private companies, enabling their transition from the private market to the public world. The continued backing of all of bit.bio’s previous lead investors underscores strong confidence in the company’s potential and strategic direction. This funding will accelerate bit.bio’s transformation into the leading provider of human cells for research and drug discovery, furthering its mission to revolutionise tools for biomedical innovation.
As part of this renewed focus, bit.bio also strengthens its executive leadership team. Starting on 6 January 2025, Dr Jonathan Milner will take on the role of Interim CEO and join the Board of Directors. Dr Milner is a prominent entrepreneur and a key player in the UK life sciences and biotechnology sector. He established Abcam, a leading provider of protein research tools, and scaled it into a multi-billion-dollar enterprise, which was acquired in 2023 for nearly $6 billion. He also initiated the Milner Therapeutics Institute, designed to connect academia with industry, accelerating drug discovery and promoting partnerships between researchers and biopharmaceutical companies.
Dr Mark Kotter, bit.bio founder and inventor of the revolutionary opti-ox™ cell programming technology, will take on the role of Vice Chairman of the Board, continuing to help shape the company’s strategic vision.
“I’m delighted to welcome M&G, our first UK investor and a titan in life science investment, to join us in our mission to revolutionise drug discovery tools and transform human health. Since founding bit.bio in 2016, it has been a privilege to lead the company through remarkable growth. Jonathan was not only the first investor in bit.bio but also my first business mentor. As part of our next phase of growth, I will work closely with Jonathan and the team to help shape bit.bio’s future and establish bit.bio as the leading provider of human cells for research, drug discovery and the preferred partner for iPSC-derived cell therapies.”
Dr Jonathan Milner Incoming Interim CEO, bit.bio said:
"I’m honoured to join bit.bio’s Board of Directors and lead the company through this transformative phase. Mark has built an incredible foundation for growth, and I am committed to building on this success. Over the coming months, Mark and I will collaborate to inspire bit.bio’s exceptional team, advance its groundbreaking technology, and drive its mission forward.”
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