In May this year co-founders Sotiria Mostrou (Chief Executive Office) and Maximilian Moser (Chief Technology Officer) incorporated Biosimo to kick off their startup journey to work on their vision of making sustainable chemicals. The team, comprising o four employees, also aims to contribute positively to the planet by reducing fossil CO2 emissions.
The ETH Zurich spinoff has developed processes to produce bio-based platform chemicals, such as bio acetic acid, for chemical manufacturers, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. Its innovative approach uses a catalytic process to convert bioethanol into higher-level biochemicals such as acetic acid and its derivatives for the global acetic acid market which is estimated at CHF 13 billion with a 6.2% annual growth rate. The process is also suitable for producing acetaldehyde, sodium acetate, and ethyl acetate.
Using funds from its pre-seed investment round, Biosimo is now well positioned to accelerate development by moving from producing grams of bio-chemicals in the laboratory to the first kilograms. Übermorgen Ventures, a Zurich-based venture capital firm and one of Europe’s leading climate tech VCs led the round. Biosimo also received capital from private individuals and investors. The total CHF 800’000 round includes grants from Innosuisse/SNF Bridge, GRS Innobooster, and Venture Kick’s award prize.
“We are thankful to Uebermorgen for their trust in us and our vision for a sustainable future. We feel happy that our first lead investor shares the same values about ecological impact as us. We hope our collaboration with the VC will inspire more investors to support renewable chemicals start-ups,” said Sotiria Mostrou, CEO & co-founder of Biosimo.
(RAN)