Lipids are fatty, waxy or oily compounds that are typically in the form of fats and oils, for example. Therefore, they are often used in the production of beauty products as well as in the fashion and food industries. Currently, most lipids come from environmentally problematic petrochemicals. But new processes make it possible to produce lipids from organic materials.
This is the idea of the German startup Insempra, which wants to convert oleaginous yeast into lipids on an industrial scale using yeast fermentation factories. It has now raised $20 million in Series A funding led by EQT Ventures. Also involved were BlueYard Capital, Possible Ventures, Taavet Sten and Acequia Capital. The new investors include the venture arm of the FMCG giant Henkel, Henkel dx Ventures, as well as Bayern Kapital and Alante Capital.
The Series A follows a $15 million initial seed round raised in 2021.
Lipids are used for cosmetic and food applications, but Insempra is also developing technologies that offer a bio-based alternative to everyday materials such as polymers and textiles. It plans to also work on developing 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 typically either derived from nature. They harvest the plant or produce it petrochemically. We use so-called oil yeast. And these oil yeasts are used in our steel vessels under certain metabolic conditions under certain conditions. Then they produce lipid oils that we later extract and sell to the cosmetics and food industries.”
He said his main competitors are specialty ingredients companies, primarily petrochemical companies: “I don’t know of any other company with an approach like ours.”
Insempra will also produce fibers for use in the fashion industry. “We did a spin-off with Imperial College,” he said. “It’s in London. It’s called Salina and we make the Salina fibers there. These 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 transform the manufacturing processes of several multi-billion dollar industries and develop tailored ingredients that meet market needs.”