ZYMVOL raises €3M for computational enzyme discovery and design

ZYMVOL, a biotech company focused on computational enzyme discovery and design has raised €3 million Seed funding led by Faber alongside Elaia Partners (existing Pre-Seed investor), and Übermorgen Ventures. 

Since its founding in 2017, ZYMVOL has partnered with R&D teams from some of the world’s largest firms to transform their production processes — boosting innovation and reducing environmental impact—through tailored enzymatic solutions.

“Enzymes are tiny chemical factories that are responsible for all transformations in Nature. Zymvol is harnessing their power to deliver clean, sustainable chemical processes to companies striving to improve their products and operations—paving the way for a better world”, states Maria Fátima Lucas, CEO of ZYMVOL. 

Enzymes are biocatalysts, proteins naturally found in living organisms responsible for “catalyzing” (accelerating) millions of chemical reactions. For decades, various industries have used them to improve the properties of their products (e.g. detergents with better stain-removal power, lactose-free milk, etc), as well as to substitute polluting, traditional catalysts.

Despite an enzyme’s ability to be applied in industrial chemical processes, it must first be engineered to withstand the factory environment, as significant changes in pressure and temperature can render them useless. 

But traditional enzyme engineering often requires months or years of lab work, while relying on massive “trial and error” experiments, making it a rather unpredictable and expensive process. 

ZYMVOL uses highly realistic computer simulations that mimic the conditions of experiments with over 90 per cent accuracy. This approach drastically reduces development time and cost, allowing only the most promising variants to proceed to lab testing. 

Furthermore, the company is also able to discover enzymes for a target reaction without prior data. This means opening the door to potential projects that know which target chemical reaction they want to achieve, but don’t know there might be an enzyme for it. 

Over the years, ZYMVOL has successfully completed more than 100 projects spanning diverse sectors, primarily in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries, collaborating with global clients such as Axplora, Medichem, and Sanofi. 

According to Sofia Santos, Partner at Faber Ventures, while enzymes power innovation across industries, from sustainable manufacturing to pharmaceutical breakthroughs, biocatalysis presents significant challenges — enzyme discovery and engineering remain complex, costly, and time-consuming. 

“Zymvol’s advanced computational solutions go beyond improving efficiency; they strengthen industrial resilience, drive sustainable innovation, and shape the future of global production.”

“Biocatalysts have proven to be an effective solution in reducing emissions and harmful chemicals in industrial production, but they are still under-used due to the complexity of their implementation”, states Maria Fátima.

“With ZYMVOL, we strive to make enzymes accessible to everyone, so green chemistry becomes the new norm."

Lead image: Canva.