DURHAM – The trickle-down effect of a “frothy” life science venture funding and exit market is having a trickle-down effect on the Triangle startup ecosystem.

And by all accounts, startups across the region are soaking up the bubbles.

But is that a necessarily good thing?

Among the beneficiaries of the “froth” in the surging market as described by Silicon Valley Bank’s Ben Johnson at Thursday night’s LaunchBio event in Durham is Durham’s life science company, Humacyte.

Unicorn status?

A billion-dollar unicorn – a status of valuation relatively rare for startups outside of Silicon Valley and larger markets such as Boston – may be in the making.

Humacyte is already in its third phase and has raised a total of $470 million in capital. That sum includes $225 million raised this year alone.

“We’re not quite at unicorn stage, but we’re nipping at the bud of it right now. We’re getting pretty close,” said Humacyte’s Chief Financial Officer Paul Boyer, who sat on LaunchBio’s investment panel.

Perhaps more impressive is that nothing came from venture capital. Instead, the firm filled its coffers with money from “ultra high-net worth individuals and family offices around the world,” grants and contracts, and a $150 million investment from Boston-based Fresenius Medical Care, to commercialize bioengineered blood vessel technology.

“There is an extraordinary amount of capital globally. They’re looking for US-based companies, pre-IPO, and technologies they can really believe in. They have to make money, of course,” Boyer added.

Oversubscribed surprise

Joseph Ruiz, president of Raleigh-based startup Enzerna Biosciences, has also been pleasantly surprised. His company is working on new gene therapies to cure Huntington’s disease — and after securing around $750,000 in grants from the National Institute of Health – it began actively searing for venture capital two months ago.

“We thought we were going to go for a small round, but we’re going to be oversubscribed. We’re closing out first round of $9 million, hopefully next month,” he said. “People want to jump in to invest.”

Cautious attitude

However, StrideBio’s Chief Operating Officer Richard Smith remains cautious.

“I hate to hear the word frothy,” he said, even though his company, focused on gene editing technology, recently raised nearly $16 million in what was described as an “oversubscribed round of venture capital.”

“It’s nice to hear valuations are up. But from a former life, I know this is a very cyclical thing. You know that it’s going to come down at some point, and you just hope you have enough cash.”