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About
Founded by Raymond Tham, who brings 20 years of cell-based research experience, Mycrocell develops a proprietary mycelium fermentation platform that creates functional ingredients for the cosmetics industry. Their mycelium ferment filtrate (MFF) offers sustainable, high-efficacy ‘clean’ and ‘green’ skincare ingredients derived from mushroom mycelium that enhance product efficacy by up to 50-300% compared to traditional botanical extracts.
Why we joined Elev8 Ignite
Ignite’s pre-seed funding has been instrumental in getting Mycrocell’s products to market by enabling last-mile product testing and development needed by both regulators and clients. With our first shipments landing in Switzerland, and deals being brokered in Singapore, China, and Korea, we are thankful for Ignite’s support beyond funding.
How so?
Jia Hong was even present at the table when our Swiss clients came to check, “all hands on deck”! At the same time, The Ignite team has also been hands-off, not breathing over our shoulders all the time, giving us room to experiment the market, and giving a listening ear and expert advice, such as to focus on revenue from a certain product category, and methods to incentivise sales with our partners.
Looking forward to growing with Jia Hong and the team at Elev8 Ignite!
— Raymond Tham, Founder
About
Rules Bio delivers a breakthrough biophysical stimulation technology called “Morph” that accelerates single-cell organism growth by up to 300%. Their proprietary service applies a one-time biophysical stimulus to seed strains before bioreactor production, dramatically improving yield without requiring any changes to existing infrastructure.
Founded by Aaron Chua after his experience in alternative protein development, Rules Bio identified an upstream opportunity in biomanufacturing productivity. The Morph process helps biomanufacturers across multiple industries — from alcohol and probiotics to biofuels and pharmaceuticals — achieve better margins and maximize yield from expensive bioreactor infrastructure.
Why we joined Elev8 Ignite
There are tons of day-one VCs around, but there’s no one closer to that definition than Ignite. They are individuals who take the effort to understand, to get you into meetings and really become an extension to the team.
— Aaron Chua, Founder
About
2Strands Biosciences is developing ultra-sensitive, cost-effective liquid biopsy tests for early cancer recurrence detection. Their proprietary allele enrichment technology detects circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) at 0.001% variant allele frequency — 10x more sensitive than standard methods — at approximately $500 per test, a fraction of competitors’ $3,000+ costs.
Founded by Dr. Debleena Ray, a molecular biologist with extensive expertise in RNA processing and cancer biology, 2Strands addresses a critical gap in cancer care: current monitoring is either too expensive or not sensitive enough to detect early-stage recurrence. Their breakthrough enables earlier detection (5-7 months advantage), more frequent monitoring, and broader patient access to precision oncology.
Why we joined Elev8 Ignite
Elev8 Ignite provided pre-seed funding at exactly the right moment for us. They bring the right expectations, the right support, and the right attitude towards true pre-seed investing — founder-aligned, thoughtful, and supportive of early-stage innovation.
— Debleena Ray, Founder