The demand for environmentally friendly and resource-conserving products is growing, and with it the search by companies for alternatives to their previous, often petroleum-based production methods and processes. The Munich-based biotechnology start-up Insempra has developed a technology platform that makes it possible to obtain natural ingredients from renewable raw materials.

The start-up has now raised USD 20 million from investors as part of a Series A financing round. The group of investors includes EQT Ventures (lead), BlueYard Capital, Possible Ventures, Taavet Sten and Acequia Capital. Bayern Kapital, Henkel dx Ventures and Alante Capital were acquired as new investors.

The scaling potential of the technology is enormous

"Consumers and end customers are increasingly demanding sustainability and climate protection, politicians are tightening the regulatory framework and companies are having to adapt as a result," explains Monika Steger, Managing Director of Bayern Kapital, the venture capital company of the Free State of Bavaria. "In all sectors, from cosmetics, fashion and personal care to food, manufacturers are therefore looking for sustainable alternatives for the base materials and ingredients in their products. Insempra can develop precisely such sustainable means of production. The scaling potential of this innovative technology is enormous. That is why we are happy to support Insempra in its growth."

Driving forward development and market launch

Insempra was founded in 2021 by Managing Director Jens Klein under the former name Origin.Bio. A seed financing round, in which USD 15 million was raised, provided start-up support at the time. The Munich-based start-up now intends to use the fresh capital to expand its innovative technology platform and drive forward the production of high-quality bio-based ingredients on an industrial scale.

"We are grateful for the support of our investors, who immediately recognised the potential of our market-leading processes and innovative technology platform. Our goal is to further expand our capacity to develop sustainable materials that are of high quality and help reduce the dependence of manufacturing companies on chemical industrial materials," says Jens Klein, founder and CEO of Insempra.

Functional ingredients from renewable raw materials

Insempra is a company dedicated to the synthetic biology approach: In this future-oriented field, biosciences and technology are combined to enable the targeted creation of biological systems with new properties. With the help of its special platform technology, Insempra says it is able to produce functional ingredients based on renewable raw materials for applications in the cosmetics, food and textile industries without losing efficiency and scalability. Among other things, the company produces lipids for cosmetics and food applications, as well as biodegradable alternatives for everyday materials such as polymers and textiles. Several products such as flavours and fragrances are already on the market.

Insempra is not only focussing on renewable raw materials in the production of sustainable ingredients. In the BioTreasure project, the biotech start-up will develop processes for the microbial production of polyester and polyamides from residual and waste materials. As one of the winning teams in the Circular Bioproduction Challenge, the Insempra team will receive millions in funding over the next three years from the German Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation SPRIND.

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