Funding profile · Consumer synthetic biology

TAXA Biotechnologies

Two crowdfunding rounds, one accelerator check, and no venture round. The SEC file opens in May 2016 and closes in May 2017.

$484,013Kickstarter pre-orders from 8,433 backers, 2013. Rewards, not equity.
$309,807Regulation Crowdfunding sold on Wefunder, 528 investors, closed Aug 2016
$120,000Y Combinator seed, batch S14, 2014
$366,880Net loss for 2016 against $3,892 of revenue

Data as of September 24, 2026. Company-reported figures are labeled.

Rounds at a glance

When Round Amount Investors Source
2013 Kickstarter rewards campaign $484,013 against a $65,000 goal 8,433 backers Campaign page
2014 Y Combinator, batch S14 $120,000 Y Combinator Reported
2013 to 2016 Private SAFEs with third parties Not separately disclosed Not named Company-stated
May to Aug 2016 Regulation Crowdfunding, SAFE $400,000 target cut to $200,000; $1,000,000 maximum; $309,807 sold 528 investors via Wefunder Form C
By end 2016 Cumulative, all sources $752,807 More than 500 investors Case study

What the filings show

TAXA Biotechnologies Inc · Form C · filed May 16, 2016, amended Jun 1 and Aug 2, 2016

Issuer
Delaware corporation, incorporated Mar 8, 2012
Security
Simple Agreement for Future Equity, sold in $1 increments
Target
$400,000, lowered to $200,000 by amendment on Jun 1, 2016
Maximum
$1,000,000
Deadline
Nov 12, 2016, moved to Aug 9, 2016
Portal
Wefunder Portal LLC · 3.0% of the offering amount on a successful raise
Employees
3
Filing
SEC EDGAR, CIK 0001674082, file number 020-22819

Form C-U progress updates · filed Aug 18 and Nov 23, 2016

Aug 18, 2016
$335,111 in investments, payments still processing
Nov 23, 2016
Final figure $309,807
Actual close
Aug 9, 2016. Both filings state that the deadline field was set to the filing date to work around an EDGAR fault
Investors
528 per Wefunder · average about $587

Form C-AR annual report · filed May 2, 2017, for the year ended Dec 31, 2016

Revenue
$3,892 · prior year $5,694
Net loss
$366,880 · prior year $298,573
Cash
$182,977 · prior year $193,376
Total assets
$223,265
Debt
Short term $581,161 · long term $732,807, up from $423,000
Employees
3
Signed
Antony Evans, CEO, May 1, 2017. No later filing exists

Reading the filings

  1. The equity crowd wrote checks ten times the size of the rewards crowd.$309,807 across 528 Wefunder investors is about $587 each. $484,013 across 8,433 Kickstarter backers is about $57 each. The same audience, asked for equity instead of a product, put in an order of magnitude more per head.
  2. The SAFEs show up as debt, and the arithmetic is exact.Long term debt rose from $423,000 at the end of 2015 to $732,807 at the end of 2016. The difference is $309,807, to the dollar the Regulation Crowdfunding total. The round was booked as a liability, not as stock.
  3. The announcement ran ahead of the numbers, then past them.The August 2, 2016 release said the company met a $200,000 goal via 400 or more investors and raised $250,000 or more. The first progress update, sixteen days later, reported $335,111 with payments still clearing. The final update in November settled at $309,807 from 528 investors. Neither the release nor the interim update matched the close.
  4. Revenue was never a factor.2016 revenue of $3,892 covered about one percent of the $366,880 loss. Year end cash of $182,977 was roughly six months at that burn rate, which is consistent with a company that told backers in April 2017 it had cut the team to preserve runway.
  5. The filings contradict each other on one line.The June 2016 Form C/A reported 2015 long term debt of $230,909, the same figure it gave for total assets. The 2017 annual report restated 2015 long term debt at $423,000. No amendment explains the change.
  6. No venture round ever appears.There is no Form D under this CIK and no Form D in EDGAR full text search naming the company. Everything traceable came from a rewards platform, an accelerator, a funding portal and private SAFEs.

Commercial signals

Signal Detail Source type
Regulatory Two APHIS letters of inquiry answered. Engineered Arabidopsis and Nicotiana tabacum found not regulated under 7 CFR part 340. Public record
Product shipped Orbella fragrant moss, from Jul 25, 2017, $79, three scents. About 400 units in two months. Independent
Product cancelled Glowing plant work stopped April 2017 after nearly $600,000 in pre-orders, per the company’s own risk factors. Company-stated
Partners Three collaborative research agreements claimed. None named. Company-stated
Status No SEC filing since May 2, 2017. Y Combinator lists the company as inactive. taxa.com now serves an unrelated business. Public record

What to watch

  • Nothing further is expected. The annual report obligation went unmet after 2016 and no wind down filing was made.
  • Any refund or investor claim arising from the cancelled pre-orders. None has appeared in public records.
  • The SAFEs, which on the face of the filings were never converted.

The TAXA Biotechnologies story on Healthcare DiscoveryHealthcare Discovery

Related companies

  • Clear Genetics: Shared investor: Company-Stated Partners. Three founders, one of them the CEO’s father, built a chatbot that walked patients through genetic testing
  • CB Therapeutics: Shared investor: Company-Stated Partners. A Carlsbad company that brews cannabinoids, psilocybin and other plant and fungal molecules in engineered yeast
  • Shiru: Shared investor: Company-Stated Partners. An AI company that mines natural proteins for food functions, then sells the ones that work
  • Future Fields: Shared investor: Company-Stated Partners. An Edmonton company that replaced the steel bioreactor with a genetically engineered fruit fly

Sources

  1. Public recordForm C and amendments, TAXA Biotechnologies Inc, CIK 0001674082SEC · May 16, Jun 1 and Aug 2, 2016
  2. Public recordForm C-U progress updatesSEC · Aug 18 and Nov 23, 2016
  3. Public recordForm C-AR annual report for 2016SEC · May 2, 2017
  4. Public recordAm I Regulated letter of inquiry and APHIS response 15-296-01USDA APHIS · 2014 and 2015
  5. Public recordGlowing Plants project page, 8,433 backers and $484,013 pledgedKickstarter
  6. IndependentInside the Glowing-Plant Startup That Just Gave up Its QuestWIRED · Apr 19, 2017
  7. IndependentWhy Kickstarter’s Glowing Plant Left Backers in the DarkMIT Technology Review · Jul 15, 2016
  8. IndependentTAXA Biotechnologies Inc.: A Genetic Engineering Start-up, case studyCases and Tools in Biotechnology Management · 2018
  9. CompanyTAXA to Close Out Regulation Crowdfunding Campaign on WefunderGlobeNewswire · Aug 2, 2016
  10. CompanyTAXA Biotechnologies profile, total raised and investor countWefunder · accessed Sep 24, 2026
  11. CompanyY Combinator directory record, batch S14, status inactiveY Combinator · accessed Sep 24, 2026
  12. Public recordtaxa.com current landing page, unrelated businesstaxa.com · accessed Sep 24, 2026

Compiled from SEC and USDA public records and published reports as of September 24, 2026. Form C notices report offerings under Regulation Crowdfunding; amounts reflect the filing date. Healthcare Venture Capital Fund holds no position in TAXA Biotechnologies. This page is not an offer to sell or a recommendation to buy any security.