Cellugy raises €4.9M to reduce petrochemicals in cosmetics

Danish biotech startup Cellugy has raised €4.9M to replace petrochemicals in personal care products.

Petrochemical ingredients sourced from fossil feedstocks are heavily used in cosmetic formulations for their desirable functional properties. However, these ingredients can pose environmental threats such as pollution, increased carbon emissions and human consumption of microplastics.

Cellugy’s fermentation platform produces high-performing dry cellulose, which replaces fossil-based petrochemical ingredients in personal care products. The seed funding will be used to scale up production of its EcoFLEXY dry cellulose product to industrial volumes.

This will be achieved by accelerating the deployment and commercialization of EcoFLEXY, currently in the pilot phase. This involves a substantial production increase, from kilos to several tons yearly. The funds raised will enable Cellugy to expand its manufacturing capacity to commercial production to satisfy extensive and increasing customer demand and support further product co-development partnerships.

The round was led by Germany’s ICIG Ventures and Denmark’s Unconventional Ventures with new, U.S.-based investor Joyance Partners joining the round, along with existing investors PSV DeepTech,The Footprint Firm, and EIFO.

“Reliance on fossil-based petrochemical ingredients is today’s most critical sustainability issue in producing personal care products. With our technology, we genuinely see a future completely free from these polluting ingredients,” commented Dr. Isabel Alvarez-Martos, CEO and co-founder at Cellugy. “Our mission is to develop sustainable solutions for everyday products, so we’re naturally pleased to partner with impact-driven investors. Together, we can achieve those goals.”