Abolis reaches strategic milestone with €35 million raised to industrialize its synthetic biology technology

This major success for the still-young company testifies to the pertinence of its innovation, which brings effective responses to market needs. Indeed, the industrial sector is looking for new processes to enable its green transition. Thereto, Abolis proposes the biological production of molecules of interest, including raw materials, intermediates and active compounds, previously attainable only through fossil resources.

Its disruptive innovation combines synthetic biology, informatics, robotics and other technologies.

Their synergistic approach enables the design of microorganisms able to produce compounds of interest via fermentation. One of Abolis's major advantages is its ability to respond to the needs of a wide range of sectors: health, cosmetics, food, chemistry, and more.

"We are very happy with this operation, carried out with renowned industrial partners and impactful, industry-oriented investors," stated Abolis Founder and President Cyrille Pauthenier. "With this strategic financing, we will be able to pursue our strategy for international growth and to strengthen our position as a European leader in the fields of industrial biotechnology and microbiome applications."

Continuously advancing growth

With his colleague Valérie Brunel, Cyrille Pauthenier currently heads a team of 55 people. Abolis's ten-year history has been exemplary. The concept that would become Abolis won the Technological Potential Prize in the 2013 edition of the Genopole Young Biotech Awards, and Cyrille Pauthenier created the company the following year, when he was 26 years old and a PhD student at the Institute of Systems & Synthetic Biology, located at Genopole. Abolis set up shop at the biocluster in SEM Genopole facilities and has expanded its offices and laboratories there as the company's needs and successes have grown.

"It's important for heads of businesses to find good accommodations that let them project and grow steadily and serenely while remaining focused on the core activity," underlined Abolis General Manager Valérie Brunel in 2022.

With this new €35 million in financing, Abolis will develop its own products and deploy its services for biomanufacturing and microbiomes.

Today, the company occupies 1,600 m² of premises and intends to double that through real estate programs underway at Genopole. Partnerships with the groups Bel and Lesaffre, and in 2019 with L'Oréal, strongly contributed to the growth of Abolis, this latter successfully navigating several technical turning points in its objectives for the production of biosourced compounds.

Thanks to the €35 million in financing, Abolis has taken yet another step in the acceleration and development of its products and services in biomanufacturing and microbiomes. The new resources will allow the company to strengthen its R&D and advance its international expansion. Abolis has a prestigious consortium at its side, both companies like L'Oréal and Evonik GmBH, and specialized international funders like DeepTech & Climate Fonds (Germany), Clay Capital (Singapore), ICOS Capital (Netherlands) and Liberset (United States).

In addition to their participation in the fund raising campaign, L'Oréal and Evonik GmbH also signed a tripartite agreement with Abolis for the development of strategic projects ranging from innovation to commercialization in the fields of health, nutrition, cosmetics and chemistry.

"This investment underlines our belief in Abolis's potential for the development of more-sustainable solutions across diverse industries, including beauty. We are excited to pursue our partnership with Abolis's talented team to develop the company's growth and future successes," commented in the press release Samantha Etienne, head of L'Oréal's venture capital fund BOLD.

Abolis is thus unfolding its roadmap for the coming years and confirming its role as an indispensable partner for industrials motivated by an ambition for more sustainable production models, and, more largely, confirming the immense potential of biotechnologies to empower this change of direction for industry.