International Consortium Invests €35 Million in Abolis Biotechnologies for Sustainable Growth

International Consortium Invests €35 Million in Abolis Biotechnologies for Sustainable Growth

(IN BRIEF) Abolis Biotechnologies has secured €35 million from a global consortium of investors, including Evonik Venture Capital, BOLD (L’Oréal’s fund), and the DeepTech & Climate Fonds. This investment will help the company expand its biomanufacturing capabilities and bring sustainable, biobased products to market for sectors like healthcare, cosmetics, and chemicals. Abolis has also signed a strategic partnership with L’Oréal and Evonik to accelerate innovation. The company plans to grow its product line and international presence through this new funding, solidifying its role in advancing sustainable biotechnology.

(PRESS RELEASE) ESSEN, 13-Sep-2024 — /EuropaWire/ — In a significant move toward fostering sustainable industrial biotechnology, an international consortium of investors has committed €35 million to Abolis Biotechnologies. The investment is led by a group of prominent venture capital funds including Evonik Venture Capital, BOLD (L’Oréal’s investment arm), and the DeepTech & Climate Fonds, alongside additional support from Clay Capital, Icos Capital, and Liberset.

Abolis Biotechnologies, known for its innovative use of microorganisms in biomanufacturing, is set to use this funding to accelerate its growth and expand globally. The investment will enhance the company’s ability to develop sustainable biobased products for sectors such as healthcare, cosmetics, and chemicals.

In addition to the funding, Abolis has entered a strategic partnership with L’Oréal and Evonik, enabling the company to scale its innovations and bring them to market. The collaboration focuses on the development of eco-friendly solutions across multiple industries.

With this new capital injection, Abolis plans to scale up its biomanufacturing processes, launch new products, and continue leading the way in microbial ecosystem engineering through its specialized unit, Microbiome Studio. The company’s ambitious expansion will also see the recruitment of new talent and the establishment of an international business development team to support its global outreach.

This investment marks a pivotal moment for Abolis, positioning it as a key player in the transition to sustainable biotechnology across industries.

About Evonik

Evonik is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. The company is active in more than 100 countries around the world and generated sales of €15.3 billion and an operating profit (adjusted EBITDA) of €1.66 billion in 2023. Evonik goes far beyond chemistry to create innovative, profitable, and sustainable solutions for customers. More than 33,000 employees work together for a common purpose: We want to improve life today and tomorrow.

About Abolis Biotechnologies

Abolis is a French company delivering high-impact innovations in biotechnologies that supports industries in their transition to a more sustainable production model by building a better future in collaboration with Nature. Abolis provides tailor-made industrial solutions based on natural and modified micro-organisms. www.abolis.fr, www.microbiomestudio.com

About BOLD

BOLD, Business Opportunities for L’Oréal Development, is the global corporate venture capital fund of L’Oréal. Since its creation in 2018, BOLD has explored the frontier of beauty via strategic minority investments in promising startups across the beauty value chain. Its investment portfolio includes emerging brands as well as innovative companies in the domains of technology and biotechnology. www.lorealboldventures.com

About DeepTech & Climate Fonds

The DeepTech & Climate Fund (DTCF) invests up to €30 million in high-growth deep-tech and climate-tech companies in Germany and Europe. As an anchor investor and partner of long-term-oriented European investors, DTCF supports companies with extended development cycles and substantial financial needs in implementing sustainable growth strategies and actively contributes to expanding the technology ecosystem. Funded by resources from the German Future Fund and the ERP Special Fund, DTCF plans to invest up to €1 billion over the coming years to strengthen the European technology ecosystem. www.dtcf.de

About Clay Capital

Headquartered in Singapore, Clay Capital supports ambitious teams that are developing transformative solutions for a healthier, safer, and more regenerative agri-food system. Pioneers in making impactful investments in agrifood tech, Clay Capital is backed by significant institutional investors, including government-linked funds, supra-national entities, banks, insurance companies, and prominent families in the agrifood industry. www.claycapital.vc

About Icos Capital

Icos Capital, based in the Netherlands, manages Climate Tech Venture Capital funds focused on accelerating sustainability through early growth stage investments in Europe and North America. The firm collaborates with leading corporations to foster industry decarbonization and sustainable transitions in Food Systems, Chemicals & Materials, Industry Digitization, and Carbon Technology. The investment in Abolis is made from Icos’ fourth sustainability fund under management that was launched in January 2024. www.icoscapital.com

About Liberset

With offices in the U.S. and Europe, LIBERSET is a transatlantic investment company focused on the growth of innovative companies fostering the industrial transition to sustainable manufacturing and decarbonization. Our investor base involves family-owned groups, family offices, experienced CEOs and entrepreneurs from sectors including farming, food, cosmetics, chemistry, energy, logistics and construction. LIBERSET is deeply committed to accelerating the transatlantic expansion of our portfolio companies while fostering global sustainable value creation, supported by our robust community of investors. liberset.com

Disclaimer

In so far as forecasts or expectations are expressed in this release or where our statements concern the future, these forecasts, expectations or statements may involve known or unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results or developments may vary, depending on changes in the operating environment. Neither Evonik Industries AG nor its group companies assume an obligation to update the forecasts, expectations or statements contained in this release.

Media Contacts:

Nadine Albach
External Communications: Strategy, Venture Capital
+49 201 177-3915
nadine.albach@evonik.com

Holger Seier
Research, Development & Innovation
+49 151 53 83 15 77
Holger.Seier@evonik.com

SOURCE: Evonik