April 12, 2022

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Germany-based pure-play impact investor Blue Horizon has made a Seed investment in Core Biogenesis, a French startup using plants as biofactories to produce growth factors for cell therapy and cultivated meat applications. 

It was little more than a year ago, in January 2021, that Blue Horizon announced it had closed its flagship fund at EUR183 million (US$222 million), nearly doubling its initial funding target of EUR100 million (US$122 million).

Founded in 2016 in Zurich by investor and entrepreneur Roger Lienhard, Blue Horizon is deploying capital to achieve more sustainable food systems through mainly plant-based alternative protein, synthetic biology, food waste, and clean meat investments that generate positive impacts for the environment, human health, and animal welfare. And although the fund has a global scope, the focus is centered on investment opportunities in Europe.

This mission has attracted more than 100 limited partners from 20 different nations, ranging from private investors in the form of large single and multi-family offices, to corporate and institutional investors including high-profile names such as the European Investment Fund (EIF), Wire Group’s Private Markets Funds, Givaudan, Group Bimbo, Sigma, B8Ventures, and Korys/Colruyt Group.

This investment narrative is rapidly gaining traction with investors as the connections between climate change, population density, the degradation of arable farmland, and animal welfare concerns intersect with agriculture and food production. Added to this, COVID-19 has now not only shed light on the weaknesses in our food supply chains, but has also rapidly changed consumer habits, national priorities, and global trade norms – widening the growth opportunity for new, more sustainable food options.

Capitalizing on these trends, Blue Horizon has backed more than 60 of the most dynamic startups in the plant-based and animal-free categories. Indeed, in March 2020, Blue Horizon Ventures’ Roger Leinhard was also a founding member of LIVEKINDLY, a new plant-based food platform dedicated to transforming the global food system through shifts toward plant-based eating, in which Blue Horizon later invested in October 2020. 

The newest portfolio company to be added to the list is Core Biogenesis, a startup developing a plant-based production platform that has delivered several functional growth factors providing unique cost-efficiency at scale.

“The highly scalable and cost-effective production approach of Core Biogenesis can help unlock commercialization of both cell therapies and cultivated meat, enabling outstanding positive impact on humans, animals, and the planet,” said Friederike Grosse-Holz, director, Blue Horizon. “We are proud and excited to join Alexandre and his team on this exciting journey.”

For cell therapy and the production of cultivated meat, these functional growth factors are key to unlocking the potential for mass production and commercialization, as they account for a major proportion of the cost of growth media, the nutrient solution in which cells are grown.

Compounding the need for such technology, both of these sectors are expected to experience significant growth in the near future, creating a landscape in which large amounts of growth factors will be required – making a reduction in their cost pivotal to innovation in both food and pharma. 

“We are thrilled to be joined by Blue Horizon to help us accelerate the commercialization of our Bioproduction technology,” said Alexandre Reeber, CEO, Core Biogenesis. “With our shared mission to help make cell-based products profitable and mainstream for the benefits of human health and planetary health, we are fully aligned with the values and interests of Friederike and her team at Blue Horizon.”

With the capital from this Seed round, the company stated that it plans to further develop its proprietary platform and to expand the team that scales up production at a new facility located in Strasbourg, France.

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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