SynPlexity, a synthetic biology company spun out of research from the lab of Calin Plesa at the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact, has been acquired by Azenta Inc., a global life sciences company based in Burlington, Massachusetts.
SynPlexity provides high-throughput gene libraries for biological discovery. The company, which is housed in the Papé Family Innovation Center, commercializes DropSynth, a gene synthesis technology that Plesa, associate professor in the Department of Bioengineering, co-developed during his postdoctoral work.
“SynPlexity is a great example of what can happen when scientific innovation meets an entrepreneurial mindset,” Plesa said. “The Knight Campus provided an environment where we could translate promising research into a scalable commercial platform. We're proud to represent the next wave of innovation emerging from the university and excited to build on that foundation with the talented team at Azenta and GENEWIZ.”
Plesa co-founded SynPlexity in 2024 with Craig Stolarczyk, the company’s CEO and a senior staff scientist in the Plesa Lab; and Samuel Hinton, Plesa Lab manager and the company’s vice president of operations and customer support. The startup received pre-seed funding from Portland Seed Fund, and support from SOSV, IndieBio, and Launch Oregon, the UO’s venture fund. Launch Oregon is an early-stage investor in UO innovators and their ideas. Beyond capital, Launch Oregon works closely with founders on fundraising, strategy, and talent acquisition. The fund invested in SynPlexity shortly after incorporation and worked alongside the founders through the acquisition.
"We built Launch Oregon to back Oregon innovators with capital and expertise,” said Paul Weinhold. CEO/president of the UO Foundation and chair of the Launch Oregon board. “The SynPlexity team built something a global company wanted, right here on campus. That's the model working, and we're ready to back the next one."
The startup also received entrepreneurial mentorship and networking support from backers, including Knight Campus External Advisory Board member Bill Cornog.
Azenta announced the acquisition on Oct. 30, 2026, as part of a broader investment in GENEWIZ, its gene synthesis and sequencing business. Trey Martin, president of multiomics at Azenta, said the investments were key to accelerating the company’s growth.
"By combining these advanced technologies with our global infrastructure and existing gene-to-antibody portfolio, we are building a differentiated platform poised to accelerate the next era of biologics discovery and development," Martin said.
“SynPlexity is exactly the kind of success we built the Knight Campus to make possible when we put startup space right next to our research labs,” said Robert Guldberg, UO vice president and Robert and Leona DeArmond Executive Director of the Knight Campus. “Their acquisition helps strengthen the next generation of startups. That’s the innovation ecosystem we’re building, where research, entrepreneurship and investment strengthen one another. We’re incredibly proud of the SynPlexity team, and we look forward to their continued success and to the continued success of the Plesa Lab’s research program here at the Knight Campus.”