ValleyDAO Growth Update Feb 2023
We've been extremely busy this past month! Find out what we've been up to and how you can get involved...
February has been an extraordinary month for everyone at ValleyDAO and we’re excited to tell you what we’ve been up to. In this second edition of our monthly newsletter, we’ll be highlighting:
Our first spinout in collaboration with the Technical University of Denmark, focusing on the production of high-performance biomaterials.
The first ValleyDAO video shoot that took place on the 24th.
The Homeworld x ValleyDAO Twitter Space that we hosted earlier this month.
The launch of Science Spotlights with Tae Seok Moon as our first guest!
Where you can find the recording of the Dealflow & Incubation upskilling seminar with Maxx Chatsko.
This month’s community spotlight, featuring Nicole Jackisch. Read on to hear about her ValleyDAO journey!
Some of the upcoming events you should be aware of in the Valley and beyond…
Academic Spinout with DTU
Fluorinated materials are heavily used in industry for their ability to resist heat, moisture and chemical degradation. However, current examples like per- and polyfluorinated substances are toxic, very persistent and can find their way inside our bodies. Nikel’s group has developed a technology that can produce bio-based alternatives to these materials, which could have better degradability in the natural environment.
ValleyDAO has been working with them to form a startup based on this technology through recruitment of missing skill sets, development of a business plan, negotiating IP licenses from the university, and supporting them in fundraising. We’re very excited to be working with the group, helping them to translate their technology and work towards a more sustainable future.
ValleyDAO Video Shoot
This month, Albert and Morgan hopped out of their comfort zone and into the hot seat to produce the first (of hopefully many more) ValleyDAO educational video. Explaining how we hope to deliver value to the SynBio research community can be challenging, particularly when speaking about the enabling technologies we’re aiming to use such as the blockchain. That’s why our amazing producer Will Corcoran from Small Pocket Video challenged us to explain what we do at varying levels of complexity.
Starting with a 12 year old, we broke down ValleyDAO to the most fundamental level - a community supporting scientists hoping to change the world. We then moved on to a university student, explaining what a DAO is and how they can be used to create scalable impact on their areas of focus. At our final levels, we engaged in deep conversations about the implications of ValleyDAO and what the future might look like with DAOs leading the way with Darren Nesbeth and Kelly-Anne Perera.
We also shot an interview with Rodrigo Ledesma-Amaro on his project and what he hopes to achieve with the technology. Despite being a teeny bit camera-shy, we had a blast on the shoot day and can’t wait to share it with our community! We’ll be reviewing the footage this week and releasing very soon so stay tuned…
Events Highlights
This month ValleyDAO hosted a Twitter Space with Daniel Goodwin and Paul Reginato from Homeworld Collective. Homeworld is a non-profit organization that is focused on advancing the field of climate biotech. Similar to ValleyDAO, they’re focused on building community to push the field forward - but they’re specifically interested in providing support and resources to talented individuals who are new to working in climate biotech. We’re super grateful to have their support and look forward to a prosperous symbiosis (yeah we said it) going forward.
If you missed it, fear not… you can find the full recording here, as well as a summary on our community blog written by one of our superstar contributors; Shreya!
We also had our first Dealflow Upskilling Seminar with Maxx Chatsko on "The Value of Bottom-Up Analysis for Investment Due-Diligence in Biotech". You can find the full recording here. If you or someone in your network would like to host an upskilling seminar then get in touch with us at ‘people@valleydao.bio’. These are a great opportunity to expand your network and meet some of the bright minds driving ValleyDAO forwards!
Finally, we were lucky enough to be joined by Tae Seok Moon this month for our first episode of Science Spotlights! He gave us a brief summary of his work and career so far, then engaged in a very interesting Q&A on the future of SynBio and why it’s important to empower the next generation of researchers. You can find the full recording here.
Upcoming…
We’ll be featuring on a Twitter Space with Uplift DAO later today. Set your reminders here.
This week we’ll be joined by Geoffrey Otim from SynBio Africa to discuss the unique opportunities and challenges in the developing synbio ecosystem. We'll also discuss the synbio landscape report that we'll be collaborating on and how we hope to tell the African story. Make sure you tune in via the ValleyDAO twitter by following this link and setting a reminder!
Community Spotlight
This month we want to give the spotlight to Nicole (‘NickyJay’ on discord) who has absolutely blown us away with her enthusiasm for the DAO! Over the past month, she’s gone from zero to hero and asserted herself as a pillar of the community. Although that’s not strictly true, Nicole was never a zero as she also recently came 2nd place in the VitaDAO Hackathon with her team AdStella Therapeutics.
“I have primarily a business background but am very curious about synthetic biology. At ValleyDAO, it was so easy to get involved, I felt welcome from day one. Great community, immense learning curve! Thanks everyone!”
If you’d like to get involved in the ValleyDAO community then you apply to become a contributor here.
We hope to catch you in the next one!
-The ValleyDAO Community