Singapore-based biotech company Terra Oleo has raised US$3.1M in funding to support its yeast-based fermentation platform producing tailored lipids.
The company’s advanced microbial technology platform uses fermentation to produce palm oil and cocoa butter alternatives from agro-industrial waste for use in the personal care, cosmetics, pharmaceutical and food sectors.
The platform delivered tailored lipid profiles for palm and cocoa applications, the company said on 18 September.
Its cocoa butter equivalent (CBE) products are produced directly from yeast, without the need for refining, and have a smooth, butter-like texture, remaining solid at room temperature, with a melting point above 350C, according to the company’s website.
Its oleochemicals could be used as emulsifiers, excipients, lubricants and surfactants, Terra Oleo added.
The company said it had signed product testing agreements with several major global and regional companies in the oleochemical, food, personal care and cosmetics industries and was preparing to scale up from laboratory to market.
“We currently co-manufacture in Thailand and Singapore and plan to scale up our first products through a mix of larger-scale co-manufacturing and potentially a joint venture with a manufacturing partner,” co-founder Shen Ming Lee was quoted as saying in a 17 September AgFunderNews report.
The company’s US$3.1M funding to date was raised from ADB Ventures, The Radical Fund, Elev8.vc, palm oil industry investor Better Bite Ventures and others.
