Biotech Food Colorant Startup Phytolon Closes $14.5 Million Series A Funding Round, Led by DSM Venturing
Phytolon, a developer of fermentation-based natural food colors, announced that it has secured $14.5 million in funding, led by DSM Venturing, to further progress its technology towards commercialization, with participation from Cibus Fund, Ginkgo Bioworks (in-kind investment in the form of Foundry services) and The Trendlines Agrifood Fund. Participation in this Series A also includes some of Phytolon’s current shareholders: The Trendlines Group (the largest shareholder in the company), Arkin Holdings, Millennium Foodtech, Agriline (administered by Consensus Business Group), Stern Tech, and OpenValley/Yossi Ackerman.
Phytolon’s proprietary technology is based on licensed technology from the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel) and addresses the need for healthy, efficient, and sustainable natural food-coloring alternatives to azo/synthetic dyes used in food and beverages.
Current natural food colors are agriculture-dependent and mostly derived from fruit and vegetables. Phytolon leverages a novel technology to produce betalain pigments by fermentation of baker’s yeast. Phytolon offers a wide range of natural colors from yellow to purple, at competitive coloring performance and cost-in-use, for multiple food categories like alternative meat, dairy, frozen products, baked goods, confectionery, and snacks.
Phytolon’s technology has already reached a semi-industrial production scale and the company has prepared the ground for regulatory clearances in the USA and Europe.
Dr. Halim Jubran, Co-founder and CEO of Phytolon, said: “The investments of DSM Venturing, Cibus Fund, and Ginkgo Bioworks open the door for broad penetration of our products in the global food industry. We are excited to have new investors who share our vision to create healthy, efficient, and sustainable food systems via biotechnology.”
Phytolon’s Board of Directors is chaired by Steve Dubin, who played a pivotal role in directing Phytolon through this financing round. Mr. Dubin has worked with several biotechnology/nutrition companies including as CEO of Martek Biosciences (acquired by DSM in 2011), as Chairman of Enzymotec, and as Senior Advisor to DSM (until 2012). Commenting on the transaction, Mr. Dubin added: “I believe this investment round and DSM’s participation in Phytolon will accelerate the commercialization of Phytolon’s proprietary palette of sustainable food colors that will provide important benefits to both food producers and consumers.”
About Phytolon:
Phytolon is an Israel-based biotechnology startup company that is taking food coloring to the next level by leveraging a novel technology to produce natural pigments via precision fermentation of yeast. Phytolon is supported by partners such as The Trendlines Group (SGX: 42T) (OTCQX: TRNLY), DSM Venturing, Cibus Fund, Ginkgo Bioworks, Millennium Foodtech, The Trendlines Agrifood Fund, EIT-Food , Agriline (administered by Consensus Business Group), Arkin Holdings, Yossi Ackerman, and others. For more information, visit www.phytolon.com.
About DSM Venturing:
DSM Venturing is the corporate venture arm of Royal DSM –a global, purpose-led company in Health, Nutrition & Bioscience, applying science to improve the health of people, animals, and the planet. DSM’s purpose is to create brighter lives for all. DSM’s products and solutions address some of the world’s biggest challenges while simultaneously creating economic, environmental, and societal value for all its stakeholders – customers, employees, shareholders, and society at large. The company was founded in 1902 and is listed on Euronext Amsterdam.
Precision fermentation is the emerging trend but the basic system could also be a non engineered yeast; for example plant cell line for secondary metabolites like betalin etc, BGA, Bacteria etc. System development is important.