Debut Biotech lands US$22.6M to commercialize cell-free biomanufacturing ingredients

13 Aug 2021 --- Debut Biotech, a biomanufacturing platform harnessing cell-free enzymes, has raised US$22.6 million in series A financing, led by Material Impact, a US-based venture firm. 

Debut Biotech will use the funds to commercialize ingredients developed from its proprietary cell-free biomanufacturing platform. It has applications across various industries, including food and wellness products.

To scale the commercialization of its technology and expand into new products, Debut Biotech will expand its footprint to a 26,000 sq ft facility in San Diego, US, and triple the size of its team across locations in San Diego and Atlanta. 

These facility investments will enable Debut Biotech’s manufacturing to be done entirely in the US.

“As one of the largest series A fundraises in the synthetic biology space, this investment is a testament to the hard work of the team at Debut Biotech,” says Debut Biotech CEO Joshua Britton. 

Novel ingredients bring unique advantages to cosmetic, food, and health and wellness markets in one of the largest series A financing rounds in the synthetic biology space.“We’ve built a cell-free platform that has the power to unlock the full potential of biomanufacturing at the highest level across all metrics – including speed, cost and scale. Now that we’ve proven the myriad applications for this technology, we’re developing new ingredients that will unlock entirely new product categories and markets.”

Rapid production 
By overcoming the limitations of cell-based fermentation, Debut Biotech produces high-value ingredients rapidly and more sustainably. 

Low-value and sustainable feedstocks can be used as inputs in place of petrochemicals, while reactions can be generated in a fraction of the time. 

These result in a more sustainable and cost-effective approach to manufacturing ingredients, including those inaccessible in nature.

“Biology is the greatest opportunity of our lifetime,” states Corinna Chen, partner at Material Impact. 

“We believe that a majority of high-value ingredients in new products will be biomanufactured in the future and beyond. By leveraging enzymes in a continuous cell-free system, they have created an entirely new methodology for developing novel and more sustainable products that are ubiquitous in our lives.”

Debut Biotech’s proprietary biomanufacturing platform utilizes cell-free and other advanced approaches such as continuous biomanufacturing to overcome the limitations of traditional methods, dramatically reducing the need for space, water, and expensive and unsustainable inputs.

Participating investors also include Cultivian Sandbox Ventures, Fine Structure Ventures, ACVC Ventures, Humboldt Fund, Cantos Ventures and existing investors, including KdT Ventures.

“Creating sustainable and effective methods for manufacturing is paramount to the future of commercial and industrial products, and in turn the health of people and the planet,” notes Dan Phillips, managing director of Cultivian Sandbox Ventures and board member of Debut Biotech. 

Improving traditional manufacturingBy overcoming the limitations of cell-based fermentation, Debut Biotech produces high-value ingredients rapidly and more sustainably.
In addition to producing rare, high-value and novel compounds, Debut Biotech’s technology also improves traditional ingredient manufacturing. 

The company recently announced a joint venture with chemical manufacturer DIC to leverage advanced biomanufacturing approaches to produce natural color ingredients to be used across DIC’s portfolio of products.

This announcement comes after Debut Biotech secured several strategic partnerships to co-develop products across a range of industries. 

In addition to the latest venture with DIC, Debut Biotech has partnered with Battelle to transform plastic waste into lubricants sustainably. 

The company has also entered into a partnership with DSM to produce a range of high-value chemicals across various industries and applications.

Meanwhile, industry’s race to diversify outside of conventional ingredients is primarily tied to health and climate-conscious commitments. While significant R&D advancements in this space over the last year have centered on discovering new plant sources, specialists in the field have also been looking into scaling non-traditional resources like fungi-based protein and fermented protein from natural biogas.

Edited by Elizabeth Green