Belgian start-up AmphiStar has secured €6M (US$6.43M) in funding to launch its range of waste-based biosurfactants.
As part of its plans to commercialise the range, the company said it would be building a 1,000 tonnes/year launch plant.
The investment from the European Circular Bioeconomy Fund (ECBF), Qbic III and Flanders Future Tech Fund (FFTF) would also be used for research and development (R&D) into its biosurfactant platform and for the completion of regulatory and certification protocols, the company said on 17 April.
“With this capital injection … we will bring our … waste-based biosurfactant products to market,” AmphiStar co-founder and chief operating officer Sophie Roelants said.
Following the launch of the company’s first commercially available biosurfactant last year with sustainable cleaning product company Ecover, Roelants said the company was now looking to form further partnerships.
Established in 2021, AmphiStar is a spin off company from Ghent University and the Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant.
Using a production method similar to processes used to brew beer, the company’s range of microbial surfactants are produced from locally-sourced waste and side-steams from the agri-food industry, such as supermarket food waste.
According to the company’s website, its biosurfactant technology platform is mainly based on the yeast organism Starmerella bombicola, which is used to produce over 25 specific variants of glycolipid biosurfactants.
The company said the processes it used to produce its range of biosurfactants were based on industrial biotechnology and used local, sustainable and renewable raw materials.
Both conventional first-generation (1G) biomass feedstocks, such as glucose and fatty acids derived from regionally sourced plant oil, and second generation (2G) biomass feedstocks, such as crude glycerine and food waste, could be used in the process, the company said.
AmphiStar’s surfactants are suitable for a range of drop-in functions, including cleaning and cosmetic products.
