The company’s engineering biology platform aims to reduce dependence on tropical rubber imports while enabling faster, localised production of sustainable biomaterials.
QuberTech, a UK biotechnology company developing sustainable natural rubber from specially engineered dandelions, has raised £3.4 million in combined grant funding and equity investment to accelerate development of its engineering biology platform and scale commercial operations.
Natural rubber is one of the world’s most strategically important industrial materials, used across sectors ranging from automotive and healthcare to manufacturing and defence.
Global supply chains are heavily reliant on imported rubber sourced from a narrow tropical growing belt that is increasingly exposed to climate pressures, disease, geopolitical disruption, and tightening environmental regulation.
QuberTech has developed an alternative approach using advanced biotechnology to cultivate high-yield dandelions that produce high-quality natural rubber and other valuable bio-based compounds in controlled growing environments.
Unlike traditional rubber trees, which can take years to mature and are limited to tropical regions, dandelions can be cultivated rapidly in scalable, localised systems closer to industrial demand centres.
Alongside natural rubber production, QuberTech’s platform can also generate additional high-value bio-based materials, including compounds with applications across food, cosmetics, sustainable packaging and advanced biomaterials.
The company has also received support through Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme, delivered in partnership with Innovate UK, recognising the potential for advanced biotechnology and precision breeding approaches to support more resilient and sustainable industrial supply chains.
Dr Ofir Meir, Chief Executive Officer of QuberTech, commented:
“At QuberTech, we’re developing a new generation of sustainable biomaterials using engineering biology to create resilient, locally produced alternatives to imported natural rubber.
This critical funding enables us to accelerate R&D, expand our team, and validate our platform at a small pilot scale as we move towards commercial deployment.”
Oliver Sexton, Investment Director at UKI2S (managed by Future Planet Capital), added:
“Natural rubber keeps the world moving, yet global supply chains remain reliant on imported sources that are vulnerable to disruption.
QuberTech offers a compelling sustainable alternative. By applying engineering biology to cultivate high-yield dandelions in controlled conditions, the company is developing a more resilient, localised and scalable approach to natural rubber production.”