Super grateful and excited!!

5 years ago, I had just joined a very early-stage startup that was awarded an MVP grant from the NSW government. Our team went on to achieve some outcomes in the cellular agriculture space that a lot of folks would have called - sometimes still call - impossible.

Today, it feels really satisfying that Media City Scientific has been awarded the same MVP grant from Investment NSW. This non-dilutive funding will support the remaining external pilot testing stages for FBS Replacement Solution (FRS) before we scale and fully commercialise.

A more personal note: I’ve cultured cells nearly every day for the past 18 months - often at night and doing my longest lab days on weekends. A relentless mental game, but one that usually hasn’t felt like “work.”

And yet, for every day I come out of the lab, enthused and proclaiming to the family that “stock is up!”, there’s a day where I’m riddled with self-doubt and wondering whether this whole bootstrapping a biotech company thing - especially alongside raising young children - is grounds for insanity.

Receiving this funding was a little emotional because while money is only a tool, it’s become an opportunity to pause and blow our own minds a little bit at how far we’ve come with a shockingly tiny amount of resources. Truly, I didn’t think we could get this far in biotech on grants, bootstrapping and mutually beneficial collaborations alone (plus grit & a healthy hustle). It’s really, really fun to prove to your past self that you’re capable of more than you thought.

Thanks everyone who’s been a part of this crazy ride so far - and thanks NSW government for helping to build up the local biotech economy. We truck on. ​