Investing in the Future

This paper attempts to address the challenges of how to invest in Synthetic Biology firms, most of which are relatively new start-ups and unprofitable. Valuing an early-stage firm with only a brief operating history, little or no operating profit (or even revenue), and an immature and untested business model, could be a formidable challenge. We propose a limited number of quantitative, and a larger number of qualitative criteria. An investor may consider these when faced with analyzing a new untried business, but one he/she believes has considerable potential for success in the future.