One year ago, MORF-Bio officially incorporated as a company.
What began as a research-driven platform developed at the University of York has rapidly evolved into a growing biotechnology company helping researchers unlock more value from microbial data.
And what a year it has been.
From spinning out of the University of York, securing pre-seed investment, and navigating our first Innovate UK grant, to launching new tools and supporting researchers uncovering new biology through MORF, the pace has been relentless but it’s incredibly fulfilling to see how far we’ve come.
For CEO and co-founder Dr. Joyce Bennett, the first year has been defined as much by the team as by the milestones.
As any founder knows, there’s always far more on the to-do list than is realistically achievable,” says Joyce. “I’m incredibly proud of what our team has accomplished in such a short space of time, not just delivering projects and new features, but building the foundations that will allow MORF-Bio to scale efficiently and sustainably.”
Joyce Bennett
CEO, MORF-Bio
While the company has grown quickly, the mission has remained the same: making complex biological data easier to explore, understand, and act upon. One of the most exciting developments over the past year has been seeing MORF’s new tools used in real research settings for the first time. Researchers are now using MORF to analyse microbial genomes in ways that were previously difficult without specialist bioinformatics expertise and in some cases uncovering new biological insights within minutes.
This reflects a core belief that has shaped MORF-Bio from the very beginning: scientists should not need advanced coding skills to fully interrogate their data. Instead, MORF-Bio is focused on building intuitive, visual, web-based tools that allow lab scientists to interact directly with complex datasets, accelerating discovery while reducing bioinformatics bottlenecks.
The past year has also highlighted the growing demand for accessible data analysis tools across microbiology and biotechnology. As sequencing becomes faster and more affordable, the challenge increasingly shifts from generating data to understanding it.
That challenge is exactly what MORF-Bio was built to solve. And while the first year has been a steep learning curve, the team believes the most exciting part is still ahead.
The pipeline ahead is looking incredibly bright. We’re only just beginning to show what these tools can enable, and I can’t wait to share what comes next.
Dr Joyce Bennett
CEO, MORF-Bio
As MORF-Bio enters its second year, the company continues to expand its platform, develop new tools, and work closely with researchers and industry partners to help transform complex biological data into actionable insight.
What started as a solution for one ambitious research project is now becoming a platform helping scientists explore biology in entirely new ways.
And this is only the beginning…..