French Industrial biotech company Afyren, which produces high-value bio-based building blocks to manufacture acids using fermentation technologies, has completed a 21 million euro round of fundraising, led by Sofinnova Partners and Valquest Partners, bringing on board Supernova, Crédit Agricole Création and Crédit Agricole Centre France alongside its historical shareholders AFY Partners and Sofimac Régions (Sofimac and the Jérémie Innovation 1 and 2 funds).
Australian biotech company Circa Group’s FC5 commercial demonstration plant is now online, paving the way to a regular supply of Circa’s bio-based solvent CyreneⓇ. A joint venture between Circa and Norwegian pulp and paper company Norske Skog, the FC5 plant is located in Tasmania, Australia. Now successfully commissioned and operated end-to-end, FC5 is starting to produce a steady stream of 99% pure CyreneⓇ, a non-toxic solvent made from certified and renewable cellulose waste.
Amyris, Inc., a California-based leader in the development and production of sustainable ingredients for the Health & Wellness, Clean Beauty and Flavors & Fragrances markets, signed a binding term sheet for a planned cannabinoid development, licensing and commercialization partnership valued at up to $255 million (not including significant royalties once the products are commercialized) with a confidential partner. The $255 million in payments include an upfront payment and the remainder are linked to milestones that are expected over the next 12-36 months following the signing of a definitive final agreement.
Braskem and Haldor Topsoe have reached mechanical completion of the MOSAIK™ process step of their demonstration plant that will produce bio-based MEG (Monoethylene glycol) from sugars. The demonstration plant, located in Lyngby, Denmark, is an important step to upscale the MOSAIK™ solution and begin production at an industrial scale, which is planned to commence in 2023. The plant demonstrates all key design features of the technology and can produce more than 100 tons per year of glycolaldehyde, which is converted into MEG in the next process step.
Metsä Group’s innovation company Metsä Spring Ltd. and Japanese Itochu Corporation established a joint venture, which invests approximately €40 million in building and operating a test plant, with the aim to demonstrate a new technology for converting paper-grade pulp into textile fibres. Business Finland, a Finnish governmental funding agency, participates in the financing of the demo project with an R&D loan.
In 2016 the International Hockey Federation announced a partnership with SportGroup’s leading brand, Polytan, as World Cup and Olympic Partner and supplier of hockey fields for the 2018 and 2022 hockey World Cups as well as the 2020 Olympic games in Tokyo.
Bioindustrial Innovation Canada (BIC), the Bioeconomy cluster based in Sarnia, Ontario, has made an investment in 3E Nano Inc.,through the Centre for Commercialization of Sustainable Chemistry Innovation (COMM SCI) program. In 2016, BIC established COMM SCI, which acts as a hub for the commercialization of sustainable chemistry and bio-based innovation. Bio-based start-ups and sustainable chemistry companies can participate in this program to remove barriers to commercialization and investments.
Royal DSM, a Dutch global science-based company in Nutrition, Health and Sustainable Living, intends to create a 75/25 joint venture with Nenter & Co., Inc., which will include all Nenter’s production and related assets for Vitamin E.
DuPont Industrial Biosciences officially broke ground last Thursday on its new site at the Leiden Bio Science Park in Oegstgeest, the Netherlands. The state-of-the-art, multidisciplinary facility will utilize the tools of modern biotechnology to make industrial processes more efficient and products more sustainable. The bio-based solutions created in Leiden will have a direct impact on some of the most pressing societal issues of today: reducing food waste; reducing the environmental impacts of livestock farming and improving animal health; producing renewable fuels; and lowering environmental impacts in the textile and laundry industries.
Stora Enso has chosen six startups to join its second Accelerator Programme, a joint startup initiative organised by the Scandinavian company, Aalto University Developing Entrepreneurship (Aalto ENT) and Vertical Accelerator. The Accelerator programme provides an opportunity for disruptive startups and Stora Enso to actively ideate and innovate new solutions. This year’s programme focuses specifically on the circular economy, especially in regard to circular solutions, raw material management, packaging, separation and sorting, and energy.
IL BIOECONOMISTA 