bit.bio CFO hire sparks fresh global expansion

He will oversee the company’s financial strategy, including fundraising, and work closely with bit.bio’s Founder and CEO, Mark Kotter, and the executive team to support bit.bio’s continued growth and innovation.

Obloj joins bit.bio with two decades of financial and investment experience, focusing in health, life sciences and technology sectors across Europe and North America.

During his career, he has built two investment organisations, led growth and buyout transactions with combined equity investment of $5 billion, and was involved in over a dozen successful exits.

Most recently, he served as Managing Partner and CIO at a Swiss family office. Prior to that, he was a Managing Director and Head of European Private Equity at PSP Investments, a C$250 billion Canadian pension manager. Earlier in his career, he worked at CVC Capital Partners, EQT and McKinsey & Company.

bit.bio is democratising human cells to advance biomedical research (SDG9) and enable transformative treatments (SDG3). Its deterministic cell programming technology, opti-ox, enables conversion of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into any desired human cell type in a single step. This is achieved within days and at industrial scale, while maintaining exceptional purity and consistency. The company creating highly differentiated human cell products for research and drug discovery (ioCells) and cell therapy (txCells).

Mark Kotter, founder and CEO of bit.bio said: “Przemek brings a wealth of finance experience across the health and life sciences sectors. His impressive track record, entrepreneurial drive and connectivity with preeminent investment firms globally make him uniquely qualified to lead our financial strategy.

“Broadening our executive team will allow us to execute our growth strategy, scale our operations and advance our position as a global leader in cell programming.”

Since spinning out from the University of Cambridge and launching in 2016, bit.bio has raised approximately $200m from leading investors, including Arch Venture, Blueyard Capital, Charles River Laboratories, Foresite Capital, Milky Way, National Resilience, and Tencent.

Obloj said: “There are few truly indispensable companies in the world, and I believe bit.bio is rapidly becoming one of them. When I met Mark four years ago, bit.bio was just starting to commercialise its breakthrough cell programming technology.

“Today, the company is emerging as a global leader in creating and manufacturing human cells with unmatched precision and scale, enabling step change improvements in drug discovery, research and ultimately cell therapies.

“We are on a path to making a positive difference for millions of patients while building a highly valuable business in the process. I am thrilled to join this exceptional team and help build the company towards its full potential.”