Genomatica raises $18m in series C funding led by Novo Holdings

Genomatica, a San Diego-based clean manufacturing company, has raised US $118 million in Series C investment to help speed the worldwide commercialization and expansion of sustainable materials, which has the potential to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 100 million tonnes per year.

Genomatica will utilize the funds to expand the manufacturing of its product line and continue to invest in innovative technologies to increase the effect of sustainable materials across a variety of sectors.

Novo Holdings, a life science investor, led the round, with Viking Global Investors, Casdin Capital, and other current and new investors joining in.

Genomatica substitutes plant-based alternatives for commonly used chemicals and materials that are cost-competitive, function similarly, and minimize environmental impact by up to 93% when compared to fossil fuel-based production. These molecularly identical replacements can be used in a wide range of products like clothes, cosmetics, packaging, and carpet.

Consumer demand for sustainable products has increased rapidly as the climate issue worsens. According to a recent survey from Genomatica, the majority of US consumers (86%) feel that sustainability is a worthy aim, and more than half (52%) make decisions to be more sustainable.

Genomatica’s sustainable solutions aim to change the way materials are obtained and manufactured, enabling transparent, traceable, and accountable supply chains that have beneficial social and environmental consequences.

Genomatica’s CEO Christophe Schilling said that leading a mass shift to sustainable materials is what motivates them. By demonstrating the scalability of their goods, cultivating strategic partnerships with major brands and manufacturers, and building the groundwork to rebuild supply chains, they’ve expanded purposefully. They’re accelerating the transition to more sustainable goods that consumers and investors desire — and that humanity requires.

Novo Holdings, the primary investor located in Europe, has long been a proponent of the bioeconomy. It joins current supporters Irving Investors, Nicholas Investment Partners, Tenere Capital, and Tharsis Capital in a growing ESG-focused and geo-diverse investment base for Genomatica.

Anders Bendsen Spohr, a senior partner at Novo Holdings, said that sustainability is a commercial necessity for companies since it is a must-have for customers and more ESG-focused investors. They believe that biological manufacturing has a huge possibility to assist businesses to satisfy this need for sustainable products. Genomatica is building more sustainable value chains through a variety of collaborations and products that it is implementing at commercial sizes to achieve the types of effect that today’s climate crisis necessitates.