Making functional human tissues is just a start for Pandorum Tech

Pandorum Technologies, a Bengaluru-based biotechnology startup, is looking to develop functional human tissues. Its long-term goal is to liberate humankind from depending on organ donors. Pandorum was the first Indian firm to 3D-print human liver tissue in 2015 for medical research. Last year, it bio-engineered human cornea tissue to enable scarless healing of corneal wounds and restore vision.

Pandorum is backed by the Indian Angel Network, Flipkart cofounder Binny Bansal, Hero Group promoter Sunil Munjal and the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council. The company raised $3.2 million in a Series A funding round in 2018. It racked up a further $5.5 million from BTB Venture, Capital Trust, KITVEN, and Kotak Investment Advisors. The company is initially planning to provide human tissue samples to researchers to test the efficacy of drugs on a particular tissue. As its technology improves, Pandorum wants to develop artificial livers for use in next-generation dialysis machines.