Promising Biotech Startup Reaping Benefits from Helix Center

How the biotech incubator has helped Plastomics grow

Among many companies located in the Helix Center, a biotech-focused incubator managed by the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership (STL Partnership), is the aspiring startup Plastomics. The focus of Plastomics is to develop next-generation trait delivery technology that improves the chloroplast of plant cells. This will result in crops that will have higher yields and will hold up against common plant enemies such as insects, weeds, and botanical diseases. Their current focus is soybeans and corn, but their technology has applications far beyond just those.

Plastomics has been at the Helix center for three years, moving from the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in 2021. Their time at Helix has been extremely beneficial, according to the CEO of Plastomics Tania Seger.

“Being here has really enabled us to collaborate with a lot of like companies. We get exposure to investors that are also invested in these like companies here,” Seger said. “We can leverage one another, not just as thought partners, but as vendors we use.”

Seger views the Helix Center as a cooperative environment, where instead of separate businesses, companies can work together and learn from each other. Shared vendors are not the only benefit, as the Helix Center also features shared workspaces with provided equipment.

The long-term goal of Plastomics is to graduate out of the Helix Center and into their own space after launching a novel product within their chloroplast platform. Then it’s a matter of expanding to other crops and technology, with the potential of being acquired by a larger operation.