Startup Working to Bring Back Dodo Bird Raises $120 Million

Colossal Biosciences Inc., a biotechnology startup working to resurrect extinct animals, has raised $120 million from investors including filmmaker Peter Jackson — and its chief executive officer says the company expects to resurrect the dodo in less than seven years.

The latest cash influx is an extension of a $200 million funding round the startup announced earlier this year, bringing its valuation to a lofty $10.3 billion. On Wednesday, Colossal also said it had “made a big step in avian science,” by growing a type of pigeon cell in a lab — an advancement the company said opens the door “to new ways of protecting endangered birds and possibly bringing back extinct ones,” including the dodo.