Meet Armaan Dhanda, who left college at 22 to turn microbes into tiny factories, his biotech startup raised $2.6 million

Dhanda co-founded the company with Samyak Baid, and they met at the National University of Singapore (NUS). The main approach of the business is to change how ingredients are manufactured. Notably, the company raised $2.6 million in pre-seed fundi...

Armaan Dhanda left college to build Anomaly Bio, a biotech startup that raised $2.6 million to turn microbes into tiny factories.

Armaan Dhanda is an Indian entrepreneur based in Singapore. He left university to focus on his biotechnology startup, which later became famous with the name Anomaly Bio. The main approach of the business is to change how ingredients are manufactured. Notably, the company raised $2.6 million in pre-seed funding in 2025 to develop its technology, which uses engineered microbes to produce ingredients from simple sugars.

Dhanda co-founded the company with Samyak Baid, and they met at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

All about Armaan Dhanda

Dhanda was interested in science during his school years and wanted to study at NUS in Singapore. He eventually received a full scholarship to study chemical engineering at the University.


Before that, Dhanda spent a year at St Stephen's College and later joined NUS, where he met Baid, who was studying economics.

Real reason to leave the college

According to reports, they both became co-founders during their first week at NUS. Dhanda and Baid launched Pawsible Foods in 2023. It was centered around food, nutrition and business.

At first, the company developed a vegan supplement for dogs using upcycled mushroom stems.
ADVERTISEMENT

As the business developed and attracted commercial interest, the founders decided to leave university and work on it full-time.

Dhanda has credited NUS with supporting their work through resources and opportunities that helped them develop the business.

What does Anomaly Bio do?

Pawsible Foods later became Anomaly Bio, a Singapore-based biotechnology startup that develops ingredients for businesses rather focusing only on finished consumer products.

The company engineers microbes to convert simple sugars into useful ingredients through fermentation. In simple terms, it aims to use microorganisms as tiny manufacturing units that can produce materials in controlled environments.
ADVERTISEMENT

Its first ingredient was a fermentation-derived bulk protein intended for use in pet food.

In November 2025, Anomaly Bio announced that it had raised $2.6 million in pre-seed funding. The round was led by US-based Pebblebed Ventures, with participation from investors including Akshay Kothari of Notion, Sean Hunt of Solugen, Eben Bayer of Ecovative and Mithun Sacheti of CaratLane.
ADVERTISEMENT

ALSO READ: Meet Aidan Guo, young entrepreneur building an AI desktop assistant, his startup has already attracted about $1.6 million in funding

What is Dhanda planning next?

Dhanda and Baid want to build a global ingredients business using biotechnology and advanced fermentation. They want to offer manufacturers another way to source materials, rather than relying entirely on conventional extraction and agricultural production.
Download
The Economic Times Business News App
for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
READ MORE
ADVERTISEMENT

READ MORE:

LOGIN & CLAIM

50 TIMESPOINTS

More from our Partners

Loading next story
Business News › World › Business › Meet Armaan Dhanda, who left college at 22 to turn microbes into tiny factories, his biotech startup raised $2.6 million
Text Size:AAA
Success
This article has been saved

*

+