Biological product maker BBGI Public Company led a $75m series B round for Manus Bio, a US-headquartered provider of fermentation-based ingredients, on Wednesday that included unnamed new and existing investors.
Manus Bio uses fermentation technology to recreate natural processes in order to produce ingredients usually found in nature for use in cosmetics, food, vitamins, medicine and agriculture.
The company recently launched a sweetener called NutraSweet Natural and will put the series B proceeds toward adding new products to its portfolio and expanding its manufacturing facility.
Ajikumar Parayil, Manus Bio’s chief executive, said: “Over the next two decades, we expect biotechnology to expand markets, reduce costs and replace traditional feedstocks with renewable alternatives.
“Manus Bio is ready to play a leading role in this transformation to make nature more accessible and affordable to the world while preserving precious natural resources.”
Kittiphong Limsuwannarot, chief executive of BBGI, added: “We believe that Manus Bio has unique capabilities to bring product innovation to the marketplace through their efficient and sustainable fermentation technology.
“With this additional funding, they are well-positioned to establish a world-class biomanufacturing platform at scale for a number of important ingredients.
The company secured $19.4m in series A funding from investors including NXT Ventures in July 2018. It had already raised $300,000 in equity funding in 2016 and $9.1m the following year, according to securities filings.
Manus Bio’s existing backers include Almuni Ventures Group’s Total Access Fund, Castor Ventures and Blue Ivy Ventures vehicles in addition to Nelstone Ventures.
