Near Frontier Cantos Ventures

We're lucky to have Sean Hunt, cofounder of Solugen, with us on Near Frontier today. We talk to Sean about the evolution of clean tech into synthetic biology, what makes Solugen special, how to build a revenue generating hard tech business, and more. Deep tech founders and investors, this is one where you'll want to pull out your notepads.  
Solugen website
Solugen twitter
Sean's twitter

Today we're joined by Anand Parikh, founder and CEO of Faeth Therapeutics.
Faeth combines precision nutrition, therapeutics, and digital health to deliver a cancer-fighting program designed to deprive tumors of the nutrients they need to grow while providing optimal nutritional support to healthy tissues. 
In this episode, we get into what led Anand to start Faeth, dig into the operational complexity behind the business's software, therapeutics, and nutrition aspects, discuss fundraising for an unconventional business model, and more. 
Get in touch—
Anand's socials
Enroll in Faeth's clinical trials here
Check out Faeth's open roles here
 

Today we're joined by Sassie Duggleby, co-founder and CEO of Venus Aerospace. Venus is a Houston-based aerospace company building hypersonic space planes that fly at Mach 9 taking you anywhere in the world within an hour. We talk about hypersonics, challenges in building airframes that can support hypersonic speeds, and how Sassie has built an inclusive and balanced culture at Venus. If you're curious about the future of transportation, then this episode is for you. 
Twitter: Venus Aerospace, Sassie Duggleby
Website: Venus Aerospace

Today we're joined by Tessa Lau, founder and CEO of Dusty Robotics, a Bay Area construction robotics company. We talk to Tessa about the vision for Dusty, how she got started, dealing with supply chain, selling into construction, and her advice for new deep tech founders. If you're interested in robotics, construction, or building hardware startups, then this episode is for you. 
 
Dusty Robotics twitter
Dusty Robotics website
Tessa Lau twitter
Dusty Robotics tik tok videos 

We talk to Prellis Biologics founder Melanie Matheu about bioprinting organs with Prellis' holographic laser technology, using bioprinted lymph node organoids for antibody discovery, and Melanie's advice for new bio founders with regards to choosing focus and setting early partnerships. 
Note: We discuss the January 2022 pig-to-human heart transplant at 13:45. This episode was recorded before we learned that the recipient of the transplant has since passed away. 
Get in touch with Prellis—
Prellis Twitter
Melanie's Twitter
Prellis website

Today we're joined by Dr. Joshua Britton, founder and CEO of Debut Biotech, a cell-free biomanufacturing company. Josh gives us a crash course on synthetic biology and biomanufacturing, walking us through the various methods and promise of this industry that may very well shift industrial production away from fossil fuels. We also get into some of the founding story of Debut, including how Cantos' investment in Debut came to be...hint: it had to do with a cold message. 
Shownotes:

Power: Limits and Prospects foor Human Survial by Richard Heinberg
McKinsey report on synthetic biology
Debut Biotech on Twitter