ANN ARBOR—Officials at Kraig Biocraft Laboratories Inc. announced the company had received an additional $1.5 million in capital from YAII PN Ltd., a fund managed by Yorkville Advisors Global LP, a private equity firm in Mountainside, N.J.
The $1.5 million received this week is the second half of a $3 million fund agreement signed with YAII in January 2022. This $3 million and those from the previously announced transactions account for an $8 million total YAII investment into Kraig Labs over the past 16 months.
Officials said the company is putting the capital to work by strengthening its production operations, building additional production capacity and bring key onsite quality control systems online. These renovations included building out custom-designed rearing rooms, purchasing and installing custom automated production equipment, and planting onsite mulberry to support year-round operations. The work also included the construction of a fully operational molecular biology laboratory that provides onsite and in-process quality control, mirroring the capabilities of the company’s United States-based research and development laboratories.
“This capital is allowing us to make strategic investments in critical processing, facilities, and equipment that have dramatically enhanced our production capabilities and capacity,” said Kraig COO Jon Rice. “Prodigy Textiles is now fully operational and beginning to fulfilling its mission of bringing eco-responsible and cost-effective spider silk to the global textile markets.”
Kraig Biocraft is developing advanced fibers from silk, using silkworms that are genetically engineered with genes from spiders, so that their silk has many of the extra-strong characteristics of spider webs.
More at www.KraigLabs.com/news.
