ADM and Danone part of US$33m in Series A financing for protein biotech start-up

06 Feb 2019 --- Sustainable Bioproducts, a biotechnology company specializing in edible proteins, has raised US$33 million in Series A financing from premier venture capital funds and two of the world’s largest food and agribusiness companies.

Sustainable Bioproducts’ technology emerged out of fundamental research into extremophile organisms that live in Yellowstone National Park’s volcanic springs, says the company. That work led to the development of an innovative fermentation technology, which can grow protein with high nutritional value and minimal impact on the environment.

1955 Capital, a Silicon Valley-based venture fund founded by Andrew Chung, led the Series A financing round. Among the participants are Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a US$1 billion investor-led fund created to help stop climate change, ADM Ventures, the venture investing arm of global food and feed ingredient provider Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM), Danone Manifesto Ventures, the venture investing arm of French food and beverage company Danone, Lauder Partner; and the Liebelson family office.

“We have witnessed incredible growth in the demand for new proteins in recent years and believe Sustainable Bioproducts has the most compelling and efficient solution to satisfy this demand,” says Andrew Chung, Managing Partner of 1955 Capital. 

“This demand will not only come from the West but from the ‘developing’ world where the need for protein will become more severe,” he adds.

“Curiosity and a passion for exploration led us to Yellowstone, one of the harshest ecosystems in the world,” notes Thomas Jonas, Sustainable Bioproducts’ CEO and Co-Founder. 

“By observing how life optimizes the use of resources in this challenging environment, we have invented a way to make protein that is radically more efficient and gentler on our planet.”

NASA, the National Science Foundation, the National Park Service, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the State of Montana and Montana State University have provided financial support to the company. 

Sustainable Bioproducts is currently is based out of the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.