Funding profile · Industrial biotechnology

Lygos

Six Form D filings between 2011 and 2019 account for about $41.7 million of equity, and then the Regulation D record stops. Federal grant money and a partner balance sheet have carried the company since.

$41.7MEquity sold across six Form D filings, 2011 to 2019
$4.05MFederal SBIR awards on record from DOE, USDA and NSF
$10.9MA 2018 round that was never announced
7 yrsSince the last Form D filed by Lygos, Inc.

Data as of September 22, 2026. Company-reported figures are labeled.

Rounds at a glance

When Round Amount Investors Source
Apr 2011 First offering, Rule 4(6) $2,280 of $2,430 10, including non-accredited Form D
2011 to 2025 Federal SBIR and NSF awards $4.05M SBIR, plus $2.38M NSF in 2025 DOE, USDA, NSF SBIR.gov, NSF
Jan 2016 Bridge, sold during the Y Combinator W16 batch $1,176,739 of $2,880,000 13 Form D
Oct 2016 to Jul 2017 Series A, reported as $13 million $14,063,149, fully sold at amendment 35; 50 Years, First Round Capital, IA Ventures, OS Fund, Vast Ventures and the Y Combinator Continuity Fund named in 2017 Form D + release
Mar 2018 Series B, announced July 2018 $15,510,512 of $20,001,078 31; led by IA Ventures and First Round Capital Form D + release
Nov 2018 Unannounced offering $10,902,117 of $15,000,000 8 Form D
Apr to Sep 2022 Reverse merger with Flexible Solutions International Terminated Would have listed on NYSE American SEC exhibit
Feb 2026 Sale of agronomy and water treatment lines to Dober Not disclosed Dober, a family-owned chemical maker Partner release

What the filings show

Lygos, Inc. · Form D · filed Apr 16, 2019

First sale
Mar 13, 2018
Offered
$20,001,078 equity and other
Sold
$15,510,512 · $4,490,566 remaining
Investors
31 · average about $500,300
Exemption
Rule 506(b)
Related persons
Eric Steen (executive officer, director); Jay Keasling (director); Brad Gillespie (director); Jeffrey Dietrich (executive officer)
Filing
SEC EDGAR, CIK 0001518601

Lygos, Inc. · Form D · filed Apr 17, 2019

First sale
Nov 9, 2018
Offered
$15,000,000 equity and other
Sold
$10,902,117 · $4,097,883 remaining
Investors
8 · average about $1,362,800
Exemption
Rule 506(b)
Related persons
Same four names as the filing a day earlier
Filing
SEC EDGAR, CIK 0001518601

Lygos, Inc. · Form D/A · filed Jul 13, 2017

First sale
Oct 31, 2016
Offered
$14,063,149 equity
Sold
$14,063,149 · nothing remaining
Investors
35 · average about $401,800
Amends
The Dec 14, 2016 filing, which showed $13,463,148 sold from 34 investors
Filing
SEC EDGAR, CIK 0001518601

Reading the filings

  1. The Series B ties out to the dollar.The July 2018 release said $15.5 million. The Form D shows $15,510,512 sold from 31 investors, about $500,300 each. That is a venture round, not a crowd.
  2. A second 2018 round was never announced.First sale November 9, 2018, four months after the Series B press release: $10,902,117 from 8 investors, about $1,362,800 each. Fewer names, checks nearly three times larger, and no announcement anywhere in the trade press.
  3. Both were filed late, on consecutive days.Form D is due within 15 days of the first sale. The March 2018 sale was filed 399 days later and the November 2018 sale 159 days later, on April 16 and April 17, 2019. Two overdue notices in 48 hours is what a cleanup looks like, not a financing calendar.
  4. The $40 million claim does not reconcile.The July 2018 release said the company had raised a total of $40 million in equity financing, including non-equity government funding. Form D sales through that round total $30,752,680. Add the $4,048,213 of SBIR awards listed on SBIR.gov and the total is $34,800,893. About $5.2 million sits outside both records.
  5. Seven years without a Regulation D notice.Nothing has been filed under CIK 0001518601 since April 17, 2019, across a headquarters move, two product launches, a terminated reverse merger, a plant MOU and a divestiture. Issuers raising under Section 4(a)(2) file no Form D at all, so the silence is not proof that no capital moved. It does mean the public record of this balance sheet ends in 2018.
  6. The 2026 filing under this name belongs to someone else.Lygos Credit Fund I, LP filed a Form D on February 13, 2026: a Seattle evergreen credit fund, $190,000 sold to one investor, first sale October 24, 2025, general partner run by Jay Bipin Patel of Lygos Finance, a bitcoin lending business. A name collision, not a vehicle formed to invest in the biotech.

Commercial signals

Signal Detail Source type
Regulatory None. No FDA clearance, no approval, no registered trial, no NIH award. This company sells chemicals and polymers, not regulated medical products. Public record
Federal support $4,048,213 of SBIR awards since 2011 plus a $300,000 DOE Small Business Voucher, and NSF award 2449589 at $2,375,361 obligated in 2025. Public record
Manufacturing CJ Food & Nutrition Tech supply agreement, October 2023. CJ BIO memorandum of understanding for a Fort Dodge, Iowa biorefinery, September 2024, over 40,000 metric tons a year at first. No groundbreaking announced. Partner-stated
Facilities Sustainable Solutions Center in Hayward announced May 2024, expected operational in the fourth quarter of 2024, now the headquarters. Company-stated
Traction More than 350,000 acres of agronomy use in the first year of Soltellus sales, plus unnamed home care brands. No revenue published. Company-stated
Portfolio change February 2026: Dober acquired the agronomy and water treatment lines. Lygos kept home care, personal care and hygiene. Partner release
Exit attempt Merger agreement with Flexible Solutions International signed April 2022, terminated September 30, 2022, no reason stated. Public record

What to watch

  • A Form D covering anything raised since November 2018.
  • Who finances the Fort Dodge complex, and whether a groundbreaking date appears.
  • Terms of the Dober transaction, which neither side disclosed.
  • A named customer for the aspartic acid superabsorbent polymer aimed at hygiene products.
  • Whether the 2025 NSF transporter project produces a follow on award.

The Lygos story on Healthcare DiscoveryHealthcare Discovery

Related companies

  • 64x Bio: Shared investor: First Round. A Harvard spinout that engineers the cells which manufacture viral vectors, rather than the therapies those vectors carry
  • C16 Biosciences: Shared investor: First Round. A New York company that brews a palm oil substitute in yeast rather than growing it on cleared rainforest
  • Cytera CellWorks, now Mytos: Shared investor: Precursor. A London company that builds machines to grow human cells without a human touching them
  • dNovo: Shared investor: Precursor. A Stanford trained biologist's direct reprogramming system once grew human hair on the backs of lab mice

Sources

  1. Public recordForm D and Form D/A filings, Lygos, Inc., CIK 0001518601SEC · 2011 to 2019
  2. Public recordForm D, Lygos Credit Fund I, LP, CIK 0002098496SEC · Feb 13, 2026
  3. Public recordSBIR.gov company portfolio for Lygos, Inc.SBA SBIR · accessed Sep 22, 2026
  4. Public recordNSF awards 1345920, 1456071 and 2449589NSF · 2014 to 2025
  5. Public recordTermination of Agreement and Plan of Merger and Reorganization, FSI and LygosSEC EDGAR exhibit · Sep 30, 2022
  6. IndependentLygos raises funds for industrial biotechC&EN · Jul 2018
  7. IndependentLygos gets funding for malonic acidC&EN · Jan 2017
  8. IndependentLygos plans commercial plant for biobased chemicalsC&EN · Sep 2024
  9. IndependentLygos Finance launches non-custodial bitcoin lending platformCoinDesk · Aug 27, 2025
  10. Partner releaseDober acquires Lygos’ Soltellus agronomy and water treatment businessesBusiness Wire · Feb 9, 2026
  11. CompanyLygos Raises $15.5 Million, Series B announcementGlobeNewswire · Jul 17, 2018
  12. CompanyLygos and CJ BIO biorefinery complex announcementBusiness Wire · Sep 10, 2024

Compiled from SEC, NSF, SBIR.gov and other public records and published reports as of September 22, 2026. Form D notices report offerings under Regulation D; amounts reflect the filing date and may not capture later sales. Healthcare Venture Capital Fund holds no position in Lygos. This page is not an offer to sell or a recommendation to buy any security.