BASF Venture Capital has announced an investment of $13.5 million in Allylix, which is a renewable chemicals company in the United States.
The subsidiary of BASF led a fiscal round of $18.2 million, together with Ayrio Ventures, Tate & Lyle Ventures and Cultivian Ventures.
Allylix has its own technology platform for manufacturing various renewable specialty chemicals, such as terpenes and its derivatives. These chemicals can be used in many industries such as cosmetics, food ingredients, fragrance and flavor and other markets. The fermentation-based technology allows the production of renewable and highly pure compounds.
Dr. Daniela Proske, BASF Venture Capital America’s Principal stated that the company’s investment in Allylix may allow the expansion of usage of these renewable raw materials in future sustainable chemical solutions and demonstrate its potential in aroma chemicals, cosmetic chemicals and nutrition. BASF has shown the potential of manufacturing cheap but high-quality renewable products at scalable commercial quantities.
According to Carolyn Fritz, CEO and President of Allylix, the cost-effective and biological manufacturing method for specialty chemicals will deal with the preference of the consumer for products that were derived naturally. This investment will help in the expansion and supply of new compounds in the product line of Allylix, and will allow the market expansion for the previous products.
Terpenes and its derivatives can be accessed rarely by chemical synthesis and it was previously available only from natural resources in limited quantity. The protein engineering technology and metabolic platform of the company is protected by 57 patents, and allows the rapid development and production of high-value specialty chemicals through fermentation at a low cost.
Source: http://www.basf-vc.de/