Indian founder shares why he quit college at 22 to launch biotech startup in Singapore: 'Just getting started'

Armaan Dhanda dropped out at 22 to build Anomaly Bio in Singapore, raising $2.6 million to turn microbes into ingredient “micro-factories”.

An Indian co-founder has opened up about why he chose to drop out of college at 22 to build a biotech startup in Singapore, saying “naivety is a superpower” when it comes to deep tech innovation.

Armaan Dhanda is the co-founder of Anomaly Bio, a Singapore-based biotech startup. (LinkedIn/Armaan Dhanda)

Armaan Dhanda is the co-founder of Anomaly Bio, a Singapore-based company that engineers microbes into “micro-factories” to rebuild global ingredient supply chains. In a post on X, he summed up his unconventional journey. He shared that he spent a year at St. Stephen’s College before dropping out. He then interned at IIT Bombay and MIT, secured $120,000 in non-dilutive funding, completed three years of chemical engineering at NUS, raised $2.6 million for Anomaly Bio and then left college once again to pursue the startup full-time.

In a blog published by Singapore Global Network, Dhanda shared more about his background. Born in Ludhiana, Punjab, and raised in Gurgaon, he shared that he grew up in a family involved in manufacturing. “Dinner table conversations revolved around supply chain, margins and working capital,” he wrote.

Dhanda further shared that he won a full scholarship to study chemical engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS), where he met his co-founder, Samyak Baid. The duo initially launched Pawsible Foods in 2023, offering a vegan canine supplement made by upcycling mushroom stems. The company later rebranded as Anomaly Bio and pivoted to a B2B ingredient model, likening itself to giants such as Cargill and BASF.

Dhanda said that the first product his company launched was s a fermentation-derived bulk protein aimed at replacing meat in pet food. “Near the end of 2024, we were among five startups chosen for The Next Generation Pet Food Program by Mars Petcare, the manufacturing giant behind brands such as Pedigree, Royal Canin, Sheba and Whiskas. Out of 140 applicants, we were the only student company accepted,” he wrote.

Then, in 2025, the duo raised $2.6 million in a pre-seed round led by US-based venture fund Pebblebed, leveraging their growing commercial traction. As the startup gained momentum, he said that he and Baid left university to focus on it full-time and switched to Employment Passes in Singapore.

“When we were students, there was always more work to do and never enough hours in a day. Now things feel very different. We have a lot more time to decompress and generate ideas for future projects. The beauty is that it is still day zero. We are just getting started,” he wrote.

Despite lacking PhDs, Dhanda said that he believes their outsider perspective is an advantage. “You approach problems from first principles,” he wrote. He also acknowledged that ecosystems like Silicon Valley offer deeper funding pools, but he credited Singapore as a strong launchpad for early-stage R&D.

“I really appreciate the comfort of life in Singapore. Food is not as expensive as it is in other developed countries. Transportation and other services are very reliable. It’s an extremely high-trust society. In my leisure time, I play racket sports quite a bit. And I really like going to cafes over the weekends,” he said.

“I do sometimes wish there was more room for serendipity. In Singapore, you don’t always find outliers or “weird” people. And yet it’s usually the crazy ones – the innovators, the artists, the creators – that change the world. With Anomaly, that’s what Samyak and I are striving to be,” he concluded.