Lipids are fatty, waxy or oily compounds that, for example, usually occur in the form of fats and oils. As a result, they are widely used in the production of beauty products, as well as in the fashion and food industries. Right now, most lipids come from environmentally problematic petrochemicals. But new processes mean it is possible to produce lipids from organic materials.
That is the idea of the German startup insemper, which plans to convert oily yeast into lipids on an industrial scale using yeast fermentation factories. It has now raised a $20 million Series A funding led by EQT Ventures. BlueYard Capital, Possible Ventures, Taavet Sten and Acequia Capital also participated. Notably, new investors include consumer goods giant Henkel's venture arm, Henkel dx Ventures, as well as Bayern Kapital and Alante Capital.
The Series A follows a $15 million seed funding round in 2021.
Lipids are used for cosmetic and food applications, but Insempra is also developing technology that offers a bio-based alternative to everyday materials such as polymers and textiles. It also plans to work on generating ingredients used in antioxidants, preservatives, flavors and fragrances.
Founder Jens Klein was previously CEO of AMSilk GmbH, an industrial supplier of vegan silk polymers.
During a call, he told me: “Lipids are normally extracted from nature. The plant is harvested or can be produced petrochemically. We use the so-called oily yeast. And these oily yeasts are placed under certain conditions in our steel vessels and under certain metabolic situations. “They then produce lipid oils, which we can then extract and sell to the cosmetic and food industries.”
He said his main competitors are specialty ingredients companies, largely petrochemical companies: “I don't know of any other company with a focus like ours.”
Insempra will also produce fibers for use in the fashion industry. “There is a split we have done together with Imperial College,” he said. “It is located in London. It is called Salina and we manufacture Salina fibers there. “They are protein fibers that are spun normally.”
In a statement, Ted Persson, partner at EQT Ventures, added: “New technology platforms like Insempra's have the potential to dramatically change the manufacturing processes of multiple multi-billion dollar industries, developing customized ingredients to meet market needs.”
