The founding story of ValleyDAO
Restoring the balance of our natural ecosystems through collective action.
Humans can restore the harmony of the natural world. With the emergence of technologies like Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), it’s now easier to become a part of the communities working hard to make this a reality. ValleyDAO is one of these communities, using the power of collective action and synthetic biology to tackle climate challenges – focusing on how we produce and consume food and manufacture materials. The application of synthetic biology offers pathways to make these processes more sustainable, circular, and regenerative.
What exactly is synthetic biology?
Imagine programming life itself – synthetic biology unlocks this power for us. And using that power, we can engineer microorganisms to create sustainable products and even heal our environment. Traditionally a playground for big pharma, this field can be pivotal in combating climate change. Let’s look at just two examples to highlight its potential.
LanzaTech uses microbes in industrial reactors to churn out ethanol, which is used to create carbon-neutral plastics, and also potentially revolutionize fuels and synthetic fabrics. This reduces reliance on the traditionally used petrochemical industry byproducts, a shift that could replace the entire petrochemical pipeline, leading to cleaner, more sustainable production methods.
Then there’s Meatable, innovating in the field of lab-grown meats. By cultivating meat directly from cells they’re reshaping the traditional method of meat production, offering an ethical, sustainable alternative with lower environmental impact. By reducing reliance on animal farming, it can revolutionize our food systems, aligning with the growing global demand for eco-friendly and humane food sources.
ValleyDAO: The Decentralized Synthetic Biology Innovation Ecosystem
Working to bring these industries championing sustainability into the forefront is ValleyDAO, a global, inclusive community redefining governance and funding in synthetic biology. With a goal to safeguard our planet's future, it advocates for a fairer bioeconomy. By funding and incubating research, from academia to independent labs, ValleyDAO is aiming to turn groundbreaking ideas into reality. Simplifying the often complex business processes, it’s opening doors for researchers to focus on what truly matters – innovation.
The focus on sustainability reaches right back to the name itself, "ValleyDAO" originated from an appreciation for the natural beauty and diversity found in valleys. The team, captivated by the scenery of mountains and valleys and their rich, varied ecosystems, drew a parallel to the field of synthetic biology. Just as valleys support a wide range of life and growth, synthetic biology aims to cultivate an array of products and solutions, favoring growth and cultivation over traditional extraction or manufacturing processes.
Meet the Founding Stewards of ValleyDAO
ValleyDAO began as a collaboration in various online Discord communities. It was here, in these digital gathering spaces, where the founders first crossed paths. Their conversations spanned across the topics of synthetic biology, entrepreneurship, and the prospects of a decentralized scientific landscape. This digital backdrop was pivotal in shaping ValleyDAO's very essence.
Albert Anis, with a bioengineering background from Lund University, Sweden, delved into synthetic biology during his studies, participating in student competitions focused on research and societal integration. Post-graduation, he joined the iGEM organization, which hosted these competitions to enable more students worldwide to engage in synthetic biology. Albert's role at iGEM evolved into spearheading a remote entrepreneurship program for participants of the competition during the COVID-19 pandemic. His experience there and subsequent co-founding of Nordic Bioventures, a consulting firm aiding academic researchers in commercializing their work, showed the importance of strong networks for startup success in biotech. His journey through various bio-innovation communities and recognition of the values of transparency, equality, and collaboration in decentralized science led him to found ValleyDAO.
Morgan Richards, driven by his passion for the environment and climate change solutions, focused on microbiology and then synthetic biology during his bachelor's degree. Then while doing his master’s he discovered blockchain technology, leading to an interest in decentralized science. After networking in London and meeting a contributor at VibeBio, Morgan saw potential in applying decentralized models to synthetic biology. This interest, furthered by connections who knew Albert, led him to join the founding team at ValleyDAO.
The founding team also includes Daniel Hussey from the University of Texas's tech transfer office focusing on deal flow, and Hamza Qureshi, experienced in DAO operations and governance, both contributing significantly to ValleyDAO’s development.
The ValleyDAO mission
As touched on at the beginning, ValleyDAO is focussed particularly on supporting projects geared towards the health of our planet, and that starts by redefining the landscape of funding and development in synthetic biology. The DAO addresses the all too prevalent funding gap between early-stage foundational research and late-stage venture capital investment, specifically targeting the translational phase that turns lab work into market-ready technologies, often referred to as the Valley of Death, however unrelated to the origin of the name of ValleyDAO. Venture capital investment tends to shy away from early-stage research as the ability to scale has not been proven yet. Most VC firms want to invest money in low-risk projects that are already mature but lack funding.
What further sets ValleyDAO apart is a community-centric model, where members aren't just contributors but also become part-owners, incentivizing a deep alignment with the projects' success. By empowering people around the world to fund and participate in the development process, ValleyDAO is democratizing the advancement of synthetic biology and enabling promising innovations to thrive beyond academic labs. This collaborative and inclusive model brings new perspectives and expertise to the table, driving forward solutions to some of the planet's most pressing challenges.
A new way to produce oil
The DAO's unique approach has already shown its effectiveness, with successes like assisting Dr Ledesma-Amaro at Imperial College London to raise 225K GBP for development. The project uses a unique yeast strain to produce high quantities of oils and fats, at first focussing on brewed palm oil.
Traditional methods of producing palm oil, often reliant on environmentally and ethically questionable practices like deforestation and labor exploitation, could be replaced with sustainable lab-based production that closely mimics the brewing process of beer. This synthetic biology approach offers a greener, more ethical alternative, capable of producing these oils anywhere globally, irrespective of natural factors like sunlight or soil quality, fundamentally relying on sugar, water, and steel.
The future of ValleyDAO
The vision for ValleyDAO is centered on empowering researchers to connect with a supportive community that aids in elevating their work. This support could span from funding and commercial guidance to hands-on help with experiments. In the near term, the focus is on demonstrating the viability of this model through significant progress in research funding and the creation of spin-out companies and valuable IP, contributing to the ecosystem's overall value. Beyond that, the goal is to establish ValleyDAO as a pivotal hub in synthetic biology, especially concerning food, climate, and sustainable development.
The power of collective action
ValleyDAO empowers any individual to help fund large-scale, multi-year research and development projects, something that hasn’t been possible before. Enabled with the recently launched $GROW token, community members can vote on the funding and governance of projects and acquire fractions of the resulting technologies through Intellectual Property Tokens.
Beyond funding, the token is used to promote active collaboration among members. This has created the emergence of work groups like Governance, Communications, and Dealflow & Incubation, all working towards the overall mission.
Yet, the value of ValleyDAO isn't just in the projects or financial mechanisms. Members highlight the worth of being part of a cohesive, mission-driven community. It offers networking opportunities, access to events, and the chance to be part of a collective working towards shared goals. ValleyDAO represents a new model of community-driven research and development, with a focus on delivering tangible results and creating genuine collaboration.