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16.11.2023

Kia's new EV4 concept car featuring revoltech's LOVR material would be unveiled in Seoul. This groundbreaking collaboration marks another significant milestone in revoltech's mission to develop materials with maximum impact. Together with Kia and other leading partners, a groundbreaking concept car has been created that represents a significant step forward in sustainable mobility.

Marília Biill, Head of CMF Design at Kia Worldwide, explains the decision to use LOVR in the vehicle's interior: "Not only is it very sustainable, but it's also very malleable, which means it's a very versatile material to work with, and it enhances the interior of the EV concept car with its beautiful, rich color." She adds: "Hemp is a fast-growing plant that requires few resources to grow." The integration of LOVR into the new EV4 Kia concept car highlights the positive impact of sustainable materials in the automotive industry and symbolizes a significant step in revoltech's commitment to promoting eco-friendly solutions and shaping a greener future.

Further information: LinkedIn post - revoltech

31.10.2023

Our portfolio company Cellbricks GmbH was awarded the prestigious "Mittelstandspreis der Medien 2023" in the "Pioneers" category. The award ceremony took place in the iconic ambience of the Commerzbank Tower in Frankfurt am Main and honored outstanding achievements of medium-sized companies in Germany that actively contribute to strengthening and renewing the business landscape.

Julia Klöckner, economic policy spokesperson for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, paid tribute to Cellbricks in her laudatory speech: "Pioneers are not just entrepreneurs, they are also visionaries. Among other things, because they solve problems that we don't even know are there yet." She emphasized the courage and the innovative and visionary approach of Cellbricks in tackling one of the most pressing challenges facing humanity. Cellbricks' 3D bioprinting technology has the potential to revolutionize medicine and significantly improve the availability of organ replacements.

As an investor, we are proud that Cellbricks has received this important award. Their innovative approach and visionary solutions are helping to drive forward pioneering technologies. We congratulate Cellbricks on this well-deserved success and look forward to their further ground-breaking developments.

Further information: LinkedIn post - Cellbricks

25.09.2023

It is the traceless team’s mission to provide a solution for global plastic pollution with its innovative novel biocircular material. Not that this is ambitious in itself, the team aims to set new standards in biocircularity. Thus, the traceless® base material has 100% biobased carbon content - without any conflict to food production and land use - and consists of no plastic, thereby, making use of renewable resources only. These facts are currently confirmed by two eco-labels, DIN Geprüft biobased product und „flustix plastic free. Both certificates are proofs by the independent test institutes DIN CERTO and flustixand further are the most demanding labels of its kind. They create credible transparency for converters, brand owners and end consumers by trustmarking traceless materials’ pioneering role and credibility of its mission “designed by nature – designed for nature”. Congratulations and Go adhead!

If you want further information on both labels and their high standards of requirements, have a look at the traceless blog articles Officially certified 100% biobased carbon content and  The Plastic-Free Guarantee.

traceless materials secures €36.6 Million Series A to build first industry plant for bio-circular alternative to plastic

The financing round was led by UB FIGG and SWEN CP’s Blue Ocean fund. traceless materials secures the funding to expand the production capabilities for its innovative biomaterial technology to industrial scale.

Hamburg, Germany - September 25, 2023. Bioeconomy startup traceless, which produces a natural biomaterial as an alternative to plastic, announces the completion of a €36.6 million funding round. The Series A funding round is led by private equity fund UB Forest Industry Green Growth Fund ("UB FIGG"), which invests in sustainable and resource-efficient forest and biobased industries, and complemented by SWEN CP’s Blue Ocean fund, which invests in innovations that help address the three existential threats to ocean health: overfishing, pollution, and climate change. A local banking syndicate consisting of GLS Bank, Hamburg, and Hamburger Sparkasse also participated in the financing round, as well as the company's three existing investors, greentech investor Planet A Ventures, seed investor High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), and deep tech investor b.value.

Transforming to a circular economy

Plastics not only leave behind the visible traces of global plastic pollution, but also contribute significantly to the climate crisis through their resource-intensive production from fossil raw materials. As part of a sustainable circular economy, the bioeconomy offers a solution: traceless materials has developed a holistically sustainable material to tackle the plastic crises. The natural biomaterial traceless® is certified completely bio-based, home-compostable, and plastic-free. By using agricultural residues, valuable biomass resources are conserved. The patent-pending technology is based on natural polymers, contains no potentially harmful chemicals, and has a minimal ecological footprint: compared to plastic, 91% of CO2 emissions and 89% of fossil energy requirements are saved during production and disposal.

“Through scaling our innovative technology, we prove that a climate-friendly, circular, resilient and regenerative industry is possible. With our novel biomaterial, we can make a significant contribution to solving plastic pollution.", said Dr. Anne Lamp, CEO and co-founder of traceless. "We are convinced that UB FIGG and SWEN’s Blue Ocean fund are a great addition to our shareholders as they have relevant knowledge in our industry. The fact that both our investors and the banks fully support our mission was a decisive criterion for us."

In order to implement the innovative technology on an industrial scale for the first time, traceless is building a demonstration plant in Hamburg. With this production plant, the company will replace several thousand tons of conventional plastic annually and at the same time save a significant amount of CO2 emissions, fossil resources, water, and agricultural land.

“traceless’ approach to use widely available agricultural side streams to replace fossil-based plastic and the financial opportunity their solution proposes convinced us both economically and ecologically”, said Sakari Saarela, Partner at UB FIGG. "The traceless team has achieved extremely strong results in terms of material performance, development times and commercialization of the new material. We are looking forward to accompanying Anne, Johanna and the team in the scale up of this innovative technology."

After the Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUV) approved a grant of 5 million Euro for the construction of this demonstration plant earlier this year, the Series A financing round is now the second part of the company's financing strategy to expand its production capacities.

“Financing capital-intensive start-ups is still unfamiliar to many investors and banks. This makes it a special challenge for industrial manufacturing start-ups like us that are developing the innovative technologies of tomorrow. We are very pleased that with UB FIGG, SWEN CP, Planet A, HTGF, b.value our local bank consortium we have found partners who share our vision and have recognized and understood the challenges of financing our hardware scale-up. With their support, we are going to reach our ambitious goals to make our contribution to solve global plastic pollution!”, said Johanna Baare, COO and co-founder of traceless.

The company produces traceless® materials in the form of a granulate that can be further processed using standard technologies in the plastics and packaging industry. Thus, the material can be used in a wide range of end products - from rigid molded parts and flexible films to paper coatings or adhesives.

“The Blue Ocean fund seeks to invest in startups bringing innovative solutions to address the 3 main threats to our ocean: overfishing, ocean pollution and climate change. As plastic pollution is one of the main pollutants threatening our ocean, we were seduced by traceless, a bio-based and biodegradable material that can replace plastics in products that easily end up in the environment, and hence in our ocean, such as single-use packaging as well as hidden plastics in adhesives and paper coatings. traceless is a compelling alternative to applications where reusable solutions are not sustainable and technical recycling is not feasible.”, said Olivier Raybaud, Managing Director of SWEN Capital Partners.

Founded in 2020, the traceless team of 40 employees is aiming to replace plastics in large quantities by demonstrating for the first time that the innovative process can be implemented on an industrial scale. In parallel with the technology scale-up, the continuously growing is developing pilot products made from traceless® materials with its customers and partners. traceless' mission: to provide a solution that addresses global plastic pollution, as well as challenges related to climate change, resource scarcity, and the loss of biodiversity. traceless is a change-enabler for driving the green transformation of the industry.

ABOUT TRACELESS

The bioeconomy start-up traceless materials GmbH was founded in 2020 by Dr. Anne Lamp and Johanna Baare in Hamburg. The mission: to contribute to a regenerative, climate-friendly economy and a future free of plastic pollution. With their innovative technology, the company turns agricultural industry plant leftovers into natural biomaterials that are bio-based, home compostable, plastic-free and have a minimal ecological footprint. To realize the ecological potential, the technology is being scaled up from pilot scale to industrial scale.

ABOUT UB FOREST INDUSTRY GREEN GROWTH FUND

UB FIGG is a private equity fund investing in companies focused on plastic and other fossil fuel-based material replacements, higher value and more efficient use of wood and agricultural raw material side streams and greater use of these raw materials across a wide range of intermediate and end uses. Through its investments, the Fund will help the forest and bio-based industries to create solutions to mitigate climate change. UB FIGG is a signatory of Operating Principles for Impact Management and reports on the environmental and climate impact of its investments.

ABOUT SWEN BLUE OCEAN

SWEN Capital Partners is a leading player in responsible investment in private assets in Europe with more than 7.7 billion euros* under management, offering a wide range of investment programs for institutional and private clients. Since 2012, the management company has integrated ESG criteria into all of its asset management activities and has implemented a climate strategy since 2017. In 2021, it strengthened its actions in favor of fairer and more sustainable growth by launching Blue Ocean. SWEN Capital Partners is owned by the OFI Invest Groups, Crédit Mutuel Arkéa and part of its team. Since January 2022, they have been a co-shareholder of the NEC Initiative, the developer of a methodology allowing socio-economic actors to measure their contribution to the ecological transition towards a common goal: the construction of a responsible and sustainable economy.

Weiterführende Informationen:  Pressemitteilung Press release traceless materials - Series A financing round

17.05.2023

Our portfolio company traceless materials is being funded with around 5 million Euros from the Environmental Innovation Program (Umweltinnovationsprogramm) of the German Federal Environment Ministry in order to demonstrate its innovative technology in an industrially relevant scale. The funding will be used to build a demonstration production plant at Hamburg going into operation in 2024 to produce the traceless® material. The aim is to substitute several thousand metric tons of conventional plastic each year, thus saving a considerable amount of CO2 emissions, fossil resources, water and agricultural land. Last week, Parliamentary State Secretary Dr. Bettina Hoffmann handed over the funding check to the two female founders Dr. Anne Lamp und Johanna Baare. Our warmest congratulations to both of you and the whole traceless team!

The official press releases by traceless materials and BMUV (German only).

20.02.2023

It is the traceless team’s mission to provide a solution for global plastic pollution with its innovative novel biocircular material. Not that this is ambitious in itself, the team aims to set new standards in biocircularity. Thus, the traceless® base material has 100% biobased carbon content - without any conflict to food production and land use - and consists of no plastic, thereby, making use of renewable resources only. These facts are currently confirmed by two eco-labels, DIN Geprüft biobased product und „flustix plastic free. Both certificates are proofs by the independent test institutes DIN CERTO and flustixand further are the most demanding labels of its kind. They create credible transparency for converters, brand owners and end consumers by trustmarking traceless materials’ pioneering role and credibility of its mission “designed by nature – designed for nature”. Congratulations and Go adhead!

If you want further information on both labels and their high standards of requirements, have a look at the traceless blog articles Officially certified 100% biobased carbon content and  The Plastic-Free Guarantee.

It is the traceless team’s mission to provide a solution for global plastic pollution with its innovative novel biocircular material. Not that this is ambitious in itself, the team aims to set new standards in biocircularity. Thus, the traceless® base material has 100% biobased carbon content - without any conflict to food production and land use - and consists of no plastic, thereby, making use of renewable resources only. These facts are currently confirmed by two eco-labels, DIN Geprüft biobased productand “flustix plastic free”. Both certificates are proofs by the independent test institutes DIN CERTO and flustix and further are the most demanding labels of its kind. They create credible transparency for converters, brand owners and end consumers by trustmarking traceless materials’ pioneering role and credibility of its mission “designed by nature – designed for nature”. Congratulations and Go adhead!

If you want further information on both labels and their high standards of requirements, have a look at the traceless blog articles Officially certified 100% biobased carbon content and  The Plastic-Free Guarantee.

03.02.2023

Our portfolio company Cellbricks GmbH was featured in the latest episode of the Handelsblatt Disrupt podcast.

Every Friday, Handelsblatt invites CEOs, women entrepreneurs, politicians, investors and innovators to talk about the big changes in business.

Cellbricks CEO Joachim von Arnim caught up with noted tech journalist Larissa Holzki to talk about the potential, status and challenges of 3D bioprinting and large-scale human tissue replication.

Enjoy listening!

Handelsblatt Disrupt Podcast

Our portfolio company Cellbricks GmbH was featured in the latest episode of the Handelsblatt Disrupt podcast.

Every Friday, Handelsblatt invites CEOs, women entrepreneurs, politicians, investors and innovators to talk about the big changes in business.

Cellbricks CEO Joachim von Arnim caught up with noted tech journalist Larissa Holzki to talk about the potential, status and challenges of 3D bioprinting and large-scale human tissue replication.

Enjoy listening!

Handelsblatt Disrupt Podcast

18.01.2023

We at b.value are excited to kick off 2023 with a fresh new look! Our team has worked hard to complete a new corporate design and we can't wait to share it!

Our new logo and slogan states in a more modern style what we are, and what we do. Starting our investments in the biotech field including precision fermentation, sustainable chemicals, food/feed, life science tools, our portfolio became more diverse over time with interesting startups offering advanced materials. We believe in biotech and advanced materials as the core technologies of the future shaping our tomorrow’s world and addressing future markets. From our point of view, impact will be driven by deep tech.

While our look is new, our core values remain the same: we will continue working alongside our portfolio companies, co-investors, and network partners with our usual reliability, profound technological knowledge and operational expertise. We are looking forward to an exciting 2023!

We at b.value are excited to kick off 2023 with a fresh new look! Our team has worked hard to complete a new corporate design and we can't wait to share it!

Our new logo and slogan states in a more modern style what we are, and what we do. Starting our investments in the biotech field including precision fermentation, sustainable chemicals, food/feed, life science tools, our portfolio became more diverse over time with interesting startups offering advanced materials. We believe in biotech and advanced materials as the core technologies of the future shaping our tomorrow’s world and addressing future markets. From our point of view, impact will be driven by deep tech.

While our look is new, our core values remain the same: we will continue working alongside our portfolio companies, co-investors, and network partners with our usual reliability, profound technological knowledge and operational expertise. We are looking forward to an exciting 2023!

09.12.2022

Congratulations on the New Economy Award 2022 

Last Friday, 02.12.2022, CEO Anne Lang received the Next Economy Award 2022 in behave of the whole traceless team. The Next Economy Award (NEA) is the startup competition of the German Sustainability Award (Deutscher Nachhaltigkeitspreis) - Europe's leading award for ecological and social engagement. The NEA prizes founders who drive social and ecological change with innovative business models, and is awarded in cooperation with Evonik Industries. Traceless is one of three winning startups elected through a public voting. Congratulations to the whole traceless team – well deserved for your continuous engagement to make the world a better place! More information and pictures at https://www.traceless.eu/post/traceless-is-one-of-the-next-economy-award-winners  

First traceless® product hits C&A shelves 

Traceless‘s vision is to remove more and more products of our daily live by sustainable alternatives made of the traceless® granulate. Therefore, we are very proud that the company published its collaboration with the fashion retailer C&A yesterday. First pilot product are traceless® sock-hooks. On the 8th of December the product was launched in the C&A Store in Hamburg Altona. We have already had the hooks in our hands and were very impressed.Looking forward to the next traceless® products! More information and impressions on the traceless® sock-hooks at https://www.traceless.eu/post/collaboration-with-c-a-first-traceless-product-hits-the-shelves. 

Congratulations on the New Economy Award 2022 

Last Friday, 02.12.2022, CEO Anne Lang received the Next Economy Award 2022 in behave of the whole traceless team. The Next Economy Award (NEA) is the startup competition of the German Sustainability Award (Deutscher Nachhaltigkeitspreis) - Europe's leading award for ecological and social engagement. The NEA prizes founders who drive social and ecological change with innovative business models, and is awarded in cooperation with Evonik Industries. Traceless is one of three winning startups elected through a public voting. Congratulations to the whole traceless team – well deserved for your continuous engagement to make the world a better place! More information and pictures at https://www.traceless.eu/post/traceless-is-one-of-the-next-economy-award-winners  

First traceless® product hits C&A shelves 

Traceless‘s vision is to remove more and more products of our daily live by sustainable alternatives made of the traceless® granulate. Therefore, we are very proud that the company published its collaboration with the fashion retailer C&A yesterday. First pilot product are traceless® sock-hooks. On the 8th of December the product was launched in the C&A Store in Hamburg Altona. We have already had the hooks in our hands and were very impressed.Looking forward to the next traceless® products! More information and impressions on the traceless® sock-hooks at https://www.traceless.eu/post/collaboration-with-c-a-first-traceless-product-hits-the-shelves. 

03.10.2022

Cellbricks GmbH wins this year's Spark Award, which is presented by McKinsey & Company and Handelsblatt. Cellbricks successfully competed in a highly qualified field of 750 medical technology start-ups. The renowned jury described Cellbricks' 3D bioprinting capabilities as a "quantum leap in medicine" and highlighted the scalability to replicate human tissue and print entire organs in the future.

Further information:

Artikel des Handelsblatts

LinkedIn – Cellbricks

 

 

Cellbricks GmbH wins this year's Spark Award, which is presented by McKinsey & Company and Handelsblatt. Cellbricks successfully competed in a highly qualified field of 750 medical technology start-ups. The renowned jury described Cellbricks' 3D bioprinting capabilities as a "quantum leap in medicine" and highlighted the scalability to replicate human tissue and print entire organs in the future.

Further information:

Artikel des Handelsblatts

LinkedIn – Cellbricks

 

 

13.09.2022

What an incredible news: The founders of our portfolio company traceless materials, Anne Lamp and Johanna Baare, have won the prestigious award Deutscher Gründerpreis 2022 (German Entrepreneur Award) last night. Congratulations!

These inspiring ladies and their team did a fantastic job over the last 18 months which has been honored by numerous awards - absolutely justified since they work hard for the vision to substitute 1 Mio t plastics until 2031. It is a great pleasure to be at your side together with our partners Johannes Weber at High-Tech GründerFonds as well as Tobias Seikel and Christian Schad at Planet A Ventures. It is an exciting journey with you! Looking forward to what is coming next!

What an incredible news: The founders of our portfolio company traceless materials, Anne Lamp and Johanna Baare, have won the prestigious award Deutscher Gründerpreis 2022 (German Entrepreneur Award) last night. Congratulations!

These inspiring ladies and their team did a fantastic job over the last 18 months which has been honored by numerous awards - absolutely justified since they work hard for the vision to substitute 1 Mio t plastics until 2031. It is a great pleasure to be at your side together with our partners Johannes Weber at High-Tech GründerFonds as well as Tobias Seikel and Christian Schad at Planet A Ventures. It is an exciting journey with you! Looking forward to what is coming next!

25.05.2022

Seed round for market entry of Revoltech GmbH's sustainable leather alternative LOVR.

Darmstadt, May 25, 2022 - Darmstadt-based startup Revoltech GmbH signs a joint investment agreement with b.value AG, BMH Beteiligungs-Managementgesellschaft Hessen mbH and HEAG Holding AG. Revoltech is developing an innovative and sustainable leather substitute made from purely plant-based material with the product name LOVR. The seven-figure seed investment is intended to advance the development of the operating business.

Revoltech was founded in 2021 by Lucas Fuhrmann, Julian Mushövel and Montgomery Wagner and is a spin-off from the TU Darmstadt. The company's goal is to develop and market a sustainable leather substitute with the product name LOVR. LOVR stands for "leather-like-without-plastic-vegan-residue-based." The plastic-free and purely plant-based alternative to the animal-based product not only looks like leather, but also feels like it. It is made with a unique technology using agricultural residues and purely plant-based additives. The textile is recyclable and biodegradable. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Lucas Fuhrmann had the original idea for the product after an internship at a fashion company known for its fair and green products. After realizing that much of the purported sustainability is often greenwashing, he began researching alternatives for leather that did not use chemicals or plastic. The result is LOVR, whose manufacturing process uses residual materials from hemp grown in Germany. It also requires only 0.3% of the CO2 emissions produced by conventional leather manufacturing.2"Our breakthrough technology ensures that we can produce LOVR with a minimal carbon footprint. Our material will play an important role in the fight against climate change and for the preservation of our ecosystems," affirms Julian Mushövel, Co-Founder & CTO.

The seed investment will be used to develop operations and expand production of the revolutionary textile. "The seed funding is a big step for LOVR. I am very happy that we have found partners who share and support our vision of a sustainable circular economy," says Lucas Fuhrmann, Co-Founder and CEO.  Montgomery Wagner, Co-Founder & COO, is also excited about the prospects offered by the investment: "With this seed round, we are financing our market entry. The next two years will be about making the step from lab to industry. We are pleased that b.value, BMH and HEAG are supporting us in this endeavor."

Peter Kallien, CEO of b.value AG, stated, "We are pleased to support Revoltech GmbH in its mission to revolutionize the leather market with its sustainable leather alternative LOVR, which is based on a strong and scalable technology foundation and a highly competent and enthusiastic founding team."

"LOVR has developed the first truly sustainable alternative to leather and is thus making a major contribution to a resource-conserving leather and textile industry," Helge Haase, responsible investment manager at BMH, is convinced. "We see significant growth potential as the trend towards sustainable business has reached all industries and is here to stay."

Prof. Dr. Klaus-Michael Ahrend and Dr. Markus Hoschek, members of HEAG's Management Board, look to the joint future with confidence: "One of HEAG's main goals is to support start-ups that use innovative concepts to address ecological and social challenges. With its idea of sustainable alternatives to leather, Revoltech GmbH is a perfect fit for HEAG and HEAG Gründerfonds."

About Revoltech

Revoltech GmbH develops, produces and distributes LOVR, a plastic-free and 100% plant-based alternative to leather made from hemp fibers. The company's goal is to transform the leather industry by introducing a truly sustainable material made from agricultural waste. Production is based on the principles of the circular economy and does not use chemicals. www.madewithlovr.com

About b.value

b.value AG not only invests as an early-stage investor in the fields of synthetic biology and advanced materials, but also actively supports its portfolio companies in their development with the unique "b.value Company Building" approach: The portfolio companies benefit from the high technological expertise and operational experience of the b.value team. The management team has more than 40 years of experience in founding, managing and developing technology companies and commercializing biotechnological developments. In addition, they benefit from the concentrated experience of the supervisory board and the broad network of b.value AG. www.b-value.de

About BMH

Beteiligungs-Managementgesellschaft Hessen mbH ("BMH"), based in Wiesbaden, was founded in 2001 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale (Helaba). Through Wirtschafts- und Infrastrukturbank Hessen (WIBank), BMH Hessen is actively involved in the economic development activities of the State of Hesse. As a medium-sized investment and venture capital company, BMH bundles public investment interests and financing instruments for early-stage, growth and medium-sized companies in Hesse. BMH currently manages seven investment funds with an invested investment volume of around 125 million euros. Since its foundation, BMH has invested over 250 million euros in a total of more than 500 companies. Investment focuses include the software & IT, life sciences, mechanical and plant engineering, industrial goods, professional services and e-commerce sectors. www.bmh-hessen.de

About HEAG

HEAG is the holding and management company of the HEAG Group. It is also the investment management company of the City of Darmstadt. HEAG supports the economic participations of the City of Darmstadt and anchors the city's objectives, especially in the case of the approximately 110 majority shareholdings. HEAG is the central advisor to the city of Darmstadt in all economic matters relating to municipal companies. www.heag.de

Seed round for market entry of Revoltech GmbH's sustainable leather alternative LOVR.

Darmstadt, May 25, 2022 - Darmstadt-based startup Revoltech GmbH signs a joint investment agreement with b.value AG, BMH Beteiligungs-Managementgesellschaft Hessen mbH and HEAG Holding AG. Revoltech is developing an innovative and sustainable leather substitute made from purely plant-based material with the product name LOVR. The seven-figure seed investment is intended to advance the development of the operating business.

Revoltech was founded in 2021 by Lucas Fuhrmann, Julian Mushövel and Montgomery Wagner and is a spin-off from the TU Darmstadt. The company's goal is to develop and market a sustainable leather substitute with the product name LOVR. LOVR stands for "leather-like-without-plastic-vegan-residue-based." The plastic-free and purely plant-based alternative to the animal-based product not only looks like leather, but also feels like it. It is made with a unique technology using agricultural residues and purely plant-based additives. The textile is recyclable and biodegradable. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Lucas Fuhrmann had the original idea for the product after an internship at a fashion company known for its fair and green products. After realizing that much of the purported sustainability is often greenwashing, he began researching alternatives for leather that did not use chemicals or plastic. The result is LOVR, whose manufacturing process uses residual materials from hemp grown in Germany. It also requires only 0.3% of the CO2 emissions produced by conventional leather manufacturing.2"Our breakthrough technology ensures that we can produce LOVR with a minimal carbon footprint. Our material will play an important role in the fight against climate change and for the preservation of our ecosystems," affirms Julian Mushövel, Co-Founder & CTO.

The seed investment will be used to develop operations and expand production of the revolutionary textile. "The seed funding is a big step for LOVR. I am very happy that we have found partners who share and support our vision of a sustainable circular economy," says Lucas Fuhrmann, Co-Founder and CEO.  Montgomery Wagner, Co-Founder & COO, is also excited about the prospects offered by the investment: "With this seed round, we are financing our market entry. The next two years will be about making the step from lab to industry. We are pleased that b.value, BMH and HEAG are supporting us in this endeavor."

Peter Kallien, CEO of b.value AG, stated, "We are pleased to support Revoltech GmbH in its mission to revolutionize the leather market with its sustainable leather alternative LOVR, which is based on a strong and scalable technology foundation and a highly competent and enthusiastic founding team."

"LOVR has developed the first truly sustainable alternative to leather and is thus making a major contribution to a resource-conserving leather and textile industry," Helge Haase, responsible investment manager at BMH, is convinced. "We see significant growth potential as the trend towards sustainable business has reached all industries and is here to stay."

Prof. Dr. Klaus-Michael Ahrend and Dr. Markus Hoschek, members of HEAG's Management Board, look to the joint future with confidence: "One of HEAG's main goals is to support start-ups that use innovative concepts to address ecological and social challenges. With its idea of sustainable alternatives to leather, Revoltech GmbH is a perfect fit for HEAG and HEAG Gründerfonds."

About Revoltech

Revoltech GmbH develops, produces and distributes LOVR, a plastic-free and 100% plant-based alternative to leather made from hemp fibers. The company's goal is to transform the leather industry by introducing a truly sustainable material made from agricultural waste. Production is based on the principles of the circular economy and does not use chemicals. www.madewithlovr.com

About b.value

b.value AG not only invests as an early-stage investor in the fields of synthetic biology and advanced materials, but also actively supports its portfolio companies in their development with the unique "b.value Company Building" approach: The portfolio companies benefit from the high technological expertise and operational experience of the b.value team. The management team has more than 40 years of experience in founding, managing and developing technology companies and commercializing biotechnological developments. In addition, they benefit from the concentrated experience of the supervisory board and the broad network of b.value AG. www.b-value.de

About BMH

Beteiligungs-Managementgesellschaft Hessen mbH ("BMH"), based in Wiesbaden, was founded in 2001 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale (Helaba). Through Wirtschafts- und Infrastrukturbank Hessen (WIBank), BMH Hessen is actively involved in the economic development activities of the State of Hesse. As a medium-sized investment and venture capital company, BMH bundles public investment interests and financing instruments for early-stage, growth and medium-sized companies in Hesse. BMH currently manages seven investment funds with an invested investment volume of around 125 million euros. Since its foundation, BMH has invested over 250 million euros in a total of more than 500 companies. Investment focuses include the software & IT, life sciences, mechanical and plant engineering, industrial goods, professional services and e-commerce sectors. www.bmh-hessen.de

About HEAG

HEAG is the holding and management company of the HEAG Group. It is also the investment management company of the City of Darmstadt. HEAG supports the economic participations of the City of Darmstadt and anchors the city's objectives, especially in the case of the approximately 110 majority shareholdings. HEAG is the central advisor to the city of Darmstadt in all economic matters relating to municipal companies. www.heag.de

05.05.2022

Actome has released the first commercial products to the EU market based on the Protein Interaction Coupling (PICO) Technology. The PICO assay kits for measuring proteins and protein interactions are available through the online webshop .

Actome GmbH is a life-science startup form Freiburg adapting digital PCR (dPCR) technology for the ultra-sensitive measurement of proteins and protein interactions. Our first products based on the Protein Interaction Coupling (PICO) Technology enable the use of the QIAcuity dPCR product line of QIAGEN for measuring proteins and protein interactions. The assay kits contain all necessary materials for labeling of antibodies with the unique PICO Labels and to prepare the assay for readout by dPCR. Registered customers can use the Actome’s AMULATOR software free of charge to analyze proteins and protein interactions with hitherto unseen performance.

Actome has released the first commercial products to the EU market based on the Protein Interaction Coupling (PICO) Technology. The PICO assay kits for measuring proteins and protein interactions are available through the online webshop .

Actome GmbH is a life-science startup form Freiburg adapting digital PCR (dPCR) technology for the ultra-sensitive measurement of proteins and protein interactions. Our first products based on the Protein Interaction Coupling (PICO) Technology enable the use of the QIAcuity dPCR product line of QIAGEN for measuring proteins and protein interactions. The assay kits contain all necessary materials for labeling of antibodies with the unique PICO Labels and to prepare the assay for readout by dPCR. Registered customers can use the Actome’s AMULATOR software free of charge to analyze proteins and protein interactions with hitherto unseen performance.

01.02.2022

Two of our portfolio companies, traceless materials and FibreCoat GmbH are among the Top 50 Start-ups 2021 in Germany.

FibreCoat could improve from rank 43 in 2020 up to rank 17 in 2021 and traceless leads the ranking. Congratulations to the founders and their teams! (further information)

Our newest portfolio member FibreCoat and its production partner Deutsche Basalt Faser GmbH (DBF) received the approval of a 1.73 mio € grant from the German state of Saxony-Anhalt to expand its production capacity at the DBF site located at Sangerhausen. (further information)

Futhermore, the Lufthansa Group announced its cooperation with the traceless materials GmbH. With help of the start-up, Lufthansa will provide sustainable packaging solutions for its on-board meals which will be fully compostable under natural conditions. (further information)

We are looking forward to futher potentially upcoming good news this week!

Two of our portfolio companies, traceless materials and FibreCoat GmbH are among the Top 50 Start-ups 2021 in Germany.

FibreCoat could improve from rank 43 in 2020 up to rank 17 in 2021 and traceless leads the ranking. Congratulations to the founders and their teams! (further information)

Our newest portfolio member FibreCoat and its production partner Deutsche Basalt Faser GmbH (DBF) received the approval of a 1.73 mio € grant from the German state of Saxony-Anhalt to expand its production capacity at the DBF site located at Sangerhausen. (further information)

Futhermore, the Lufthansa Group announced its cooperation with the traceless materials GmbH. With help of the start-up, Lufthansa will provide sustainable packaging solutions for its on-board meals which will be fully compostable under natural conditions. (further information)

We are looking forward to futher potentially upcoming good news this week!

14.01.2022

Why 3D bioprinting? Because it is the future of tissue and organ reproduction for transplantation!

How can this goal be achieved and when will there be functioning organs on demand? The article in Frankfurter Rundschau provides an overview of the current situation and the role of 3D bioprinting. Among other industry and thought leaders such as Swedish visionary Erik Gatenholm, Cellbricks with founder Dr. Lutz Kloke is mentioned as Berlin's spearhead of 3D bioprinting.

Moreover, the article demonstrates the reputation of the founders of our portfolio companies since In the same article, Dr. Peter Koltay, CEO of our Freiburg portfolio company Actome GmbH and senior scientist at the Institute for Microsystems Technology (IMTEK) at the University of Freiburg, comments on the state of development and the potential of the technology. Actome GmbH und leitender Wissenschaftler des Instituts für Mikrosystemtechnik (IMTEK) an der Universität Freiburg, ordnet im gleichen Artikel den Entwicklungsstand und die Potenziale der Technologie als Experte ein.

Frankfurter Rundschau article.

Why 3D bioprinting? Because it is the future of tissue and organ reproduction for transplantation!

How can this goal be achieved and when will there be functioning organs on demand? The article in Frankfurter Rundschau provides an overview of the current situation and the role of 3D bioprinting. Among other industry and thought leaders such as Swedish visionary Erik Gatenholm, Cellbricks with founder Dr. Lutz Kloke is mentioned as Berlin's spearhead of 3D bioprinting.

Moreover, the article demonstrates the reputation of the founders of our portfolio companies since In the same article, Dr. Peter Koltay, CEO of our Freiburg portfolio company Actome GmbH and senior scientist at the Institute for Microsystems Technology (IMTEK) at the University of Freiburg, comments on the state of development and the potential of the technology. Actome GmbH und leitender Wissenschaftler des Instituts für Mikrosystemtechnik (IMTEK) an der Universität Freiburg, ordnet im gleichen Artikel den Entwicklungsstand und die Potenziale der Technologie als Experte ein.

Frankfurter Rundschau article.

10.01.2022

SenseUp has been awarded a grant by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), for SenseUp to apply their platform technology to the production of pharmaceutical proteins and peptides. The grant provides SenseUp with 2,1 million € non-dilutive funding and will be used to further develop and scale-up their bio-production platform for pharmaceutical proteins and peptides in the next 5 years.

The funding was provided as part of the project "ModellRegion, BioRevierPLUS: BioökonomieREVIER ". With this project, the BMBF is funding a wide variety of promising research, development, and innovation projects (R&D&I) in the field of the bioeconomy in the Rheinischen Revier as part of the National Bioeconomy Strategy and the Structural Strengthening of Coal Regions Act.

SenseUp sees this funding success as a confirmation of their bio-production strategy and the great potential of bio-manufacturing determining what we eat, what cures us, the products we put on our skin, and the way we build our physical world in the coming decades. The company will play a key role in this transformation by enabling efficient bio-production platforms with crucial cost- and scaling-advantages using its disruptive natural evolution technology.

"SenseUp has a unique advantage here'' says Dr. Georg Schaumann, CEO and founder of the company, ''we have already developed groundbreaking bio-production processes for fine chemicals using our unique natural evolution technology. With this grant, we will now be able to do the same for pharmaceutical proteins and peptides."

About SenseUp Biotechnology GmbH
Founded in 2015, SenseUp develops microbial production strains and processes for large-scale production of e.g. amino acids under a licensing model. Compared to conventional optimization strategies, the patented SenseUp technology allows for 50,000 times faster selection of optimized production strains under relevant process conditions and thus enables customized and process-specific development of ready-to-use and optionally GMO-free high-performance production organisms. Especially for food and feed applications, these are important advantages for SenseUp customers. Extending the product-spectrum to RNA and proteins/peptides, SenseUp additionally focusses on markets for pharmaceuticals, animal-free consumer products and biopesticides.

SenseUp has been awarded a grant by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), for SenseUp to apply their platform technology to the production of pharmaceutical proteins and peptides. The grant provides SenseUp with 2,1 million € non-dilutive funding and will be used to further develop and scale-up their bio-production platform for pharmaceutical proteins and peptides in the next 5 years.

The funding was provided as part of the project "ModellRegion, BioRevierPLUS: BioökonomieREVIER ". With this project, the BMBF is funding a wide variety of promising research, development, and innovation projects (R&D&I) in the field of the bioeconomy in the Rheinischen Revier as part of the National Bioeconomy Strategy and the Structural Strengthening of Coal Regions Act.

SenseUp sees this funding success as a confirmation of their bio-production strategy and the great potential of bio-manufacturing determining what we eat, what cures us, the products we put on our skin, and the way we build our physical world in the coming decades. The company will play a key role in this transformation by enabling efficient bio-production platforms with crucial cost- and scaling-advantages using its disruptive natural evolution technology.

"SenseUp has a unique advantage here'' says Dr. Georg Schaumann, CEO and founder of the company, ''we have already developed groundbreaking bio-production processes for fine chemicals using our unique natural evolution technology. With this grant, we will now be able to do the same for pharmaceutical proteins and peptides."

About SenseUp Biotechnology GmbH
Founded in 2015, SenseUp develops microbial production strains and processes for large-scale production of e.g. amino acids under a licensing model. Compared to conventional optimization strategies, the patented SenseUp technology allows for 50,000 times faster selection of optimized production strains under relevant process conditions and thus enables customized and process-specific development of ready-to-use and optionally GMO-free high-performance production organisms. Especially for food and feed applications, these are important advantages for SenseUp customers. Extending the product-spectrum to RNA and proteins/peptides, SenseUp additionally focusses on markets for pharmaceuticals, animal-free consumer products and biopesticides.

07.01.2022

Actome and QIAGEN have signed a licensing and co-marketing agreement to jointly accelerate the commercialization of Actome’s proprietary Protein-Interaction-Coupling (PICO) -Technology

Actome GmbH, a life-science start-up company from the University of Freiburg and Hahn-Schickard, Germany has signed a license agreement and a co-marketing agreement with QIAGEN GmbH, Hilden, Germany, to jointly accelerate the market entry of Actome’s Protein-Interaction-Coupling (PICO) - Technology. The collaboration will help Actome to bring products to the market faster while providing a unique innovative feature to the QIAcuity dPCR product line of QIAGEN. Actome will market first products exclusively for use on QIAGEN’s digital PCR instruments as well as support QIAGEN in developing own products. Both partners will jointly commercialize the disruptive PICO-Technology for molecular biological research in the future.

The unique performance of Actome’s products is based on the patented PICO -Technology that detects single protein molecules and protein interaction complexes by translating protein status into DNA- barcodes. These barcodes are then detected by the method of digital PCR and decoded by a proprietary software developed by Actome. “Our PICO-Technology expands the capabilities of the QIAcuity digital PCR platform by QIAGEN from nucleic acids to proteins. The application of our technology in the fields of proteomics, molecular pathway research and biomarker discovery will help to increase our knowledge about molecular biological processes and will transform molecular biological research in an unprecedented way.” says Csaba Jeney, co-founder, CEO, and inventor of the technology.

Proteins control and direct biological processes through their interactions, the so-called interactome, by which they determine our health and wellbeing. Tools to study the interactome enable the understanding of cellular processes and open up an enormous potential for research, diagnostics and therapies. Tackling these challenges, Actome's innovative technology is a breakthrough that will revolutionize research and biomedicine. “QIAcuity is expanding into new research fields as a cost-effective and very reliable digital PCR system,” said Thomas Schweins, Senior Vice President, Head of the Life Science Business Area at QIAGEN. “The partnership with Actome extends the use of this technology to protein quantification and protein-protein interaction.”

Actome GmbH is a privately held young life-science startup founded in 2017. The year before Dr. Jeney moved from Budapest to Freiburg to partner with Dr. Koltay and to leverage his start-up experience and the excellent environment provided by the University of Freiburg and the Hahn-Schickard research institute in Freiburg. Actome provides assay kits, bioinformatics software and services for the sensitive, highly parallel and quantitative measurement of proteins and protein interactions. The long term vision of Actome is to decode the whole interactome and to exploit these discoveries in molecular diagnostic products for personalized medicine. Actome’s first products will target the research market in the field of molecular biology with a specific focus on assay-kits for multi-omics and single cell analysis.

www.actome.de

QIAGEN press release

Actome and QIAGEN have signed a licensing and co-marketing agreement to jointly accelerate the commercialization of Actome’s proprietary Protein-Interaction-Coupling (PICO) -Technology

Actome GmbH, a life-science start-up company from the University of Freiburg and Hahn-Schickard, Germany has signed a license agreement and a co-marketing agreement with QIAGEN GmbH, Hilden, Germany, to jointly accelerate the market entry of Actome’s Protein-Interaction-Coupling (PICO) - Technology. The collaboration will help Actome to bring products to the market faster while providing a unique innovative feature to the QIAcuity dPCR product line of QIAGEN. Actome will market first products exclusively for use on QIAGEN’s digital PCR instruments as well as support QIAGEN in developing own products. Both partners will jointly commercialize the disruptive PICO-Technology for molecular biological research in the future.

The unique performance of Actome’s products is based on the patented PICO -Technology that detects single protein molecules and protein interaction complexes by translating protein status into DNA- barcodes. These barcodes are then detected by the method of digital PCR and decoded by a proprietary software developed by Actome. “Our PICO-Technology expands the capabilities of the QIAcuity digital PCR platform by QIAGEN from nucleic acids to proteins. The application of our technology in the fields of proteomics, molecular pathway research and biomarker discovery will help to increase our knowledge about molecular biological processes and will transform molecular biological research in an unprecedented way.” says Csaba Jeney, co-founder, CEO, and inventor of the technology.

Proteins control and direct biological processes through their interactions, the so-called interactome, by which they determine our health and wellbeing. Tools to study the interactome enable the understanding of cellular processes and open up an enormous potential for research, diagnostics and therapies. Tackling these challenges, Actome's innovative technology is a breakthrough that will revolutionize research and biomedicine. “QIAcuity is expanding into new research fields as a cost-effective and very reliable digital PCR system,” said Thomas Schweins, Senior Vice President, Head of the Life Science Business Area at QIAGEN. “The partnership with Actome extends the use of this technology to protein quantification and protein-protein interaction.”

Actome GmbH is a privately held young life-science startup founded in 2017. The year before Dr. Jeney moved from Budapest to Freiburg to partner with Dr. Koltay and to leverage his start-up experience and the excellent environment provided by the University of Freiburg and the Hahn-Schickard research institute in Freiburg. Actome provides assay kits, bioinformatics software and services for the sensitive, highly parallel and quantitative measurement of proteins and protein interactions. The long term vision of Actome is to decode the whole interactome and to exploit these discoveries in molecular diagnostic products for personalized medicine. Actome’s first products will target the research market in the field of molecular biology with a specific focus on assay-kits for multi-omics and single cell analysis.

www.actome.de

QIAGEN press release

17.11.2021

Aachen 21.10.2021 - FibreCoat GmbHan innovative composite materials spin-off from the Institut für Textiltechnik (ITA) of RWTH Aachen, announces it closed a $3 million Series A round with Goose Capital, Phoenix Venture Partners, b.value AG, NOVA by Saint-Gobain and the TiE Houston Angels, led by Ashok Rao (Goose Capital). The capital raised is being used to expand the FibreCoat team to increase sales and marketing activities as the company looks to increase capacity and to allow FibreCoat to build new partnerships in the construction, electronics, and automotive industry.

These strong investors offer a knowledgeable background in materials and a diverse network into the markets we serve as we lay the foundation for scaling our technology to increase our capacity from 10 tons per month by the end of 2021 to 60 tons per month in 2022” said Robert Brüll, CEO, FibreCoat.

FibreCoat offers a revolutionary coating technology for fibres in composite and shielding applications as a basic building block for tomorrow's mobility and construction industries. Developed by co-founders Robert Brüll, Alexander Lüking, and Richard Haas as part of their doctoral studies at the RWTH Aachen University (Germany), FibreCoat’s product lines include AluCoat, metal-coated basalt fibres used for electromagnetic shielding and conducting applications, and PolyCoat, thermoplastic-coated glass fibres used for strengthening and light weighting applications. The coated fibres provide substantial quality advantages due to the single-filament coating and the tunability of the materials (e.g., adjustable coating thickness, homogeneity, thin core fibres). FibreCoat produces application- and customer-specific bicomponent filaments for a wide range of applications resulting in disruptive advances in the composite and EMI shielding industries. It provides a significant advantage over other technologies due to its high speed and one-step technology process, with substantial-quality advantages resulting from the single-fibre coating. The high-performance fibres not only improve existing products but enable completely new mass market applications in areas ranging from light-weight EMI shielding in electric vehicles and defence applications to drape-able EMI shielding fabrics for smart textiles or wallpapers in hospitals.

In addition to high-coating flexibility, our extensive network for customer-specific processing of coated fibres differentiates us from our competitors” said Brüll. “Our first market-ready product, AluCoatsaves up to 90 percent in CO2 emissions during production when compared to alternative materials, such as solid metal fibres, and aluminium foils and sheets, while also being fully recyclable.“

The Series A funding was a result of FibreCoat’s outstanding technology and performance at this year’s Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC), where the company was represented as the TiE Global automatic European entry after successfully winning TiE Global’s feeder competition in Europe. As the largest intercollegiate start-up competition in the world, RBPC provided the perfect combination with TiE for FibreCoat to leverage an extensive network, placing third in the final competition. The RBPC invites start-ups from 42 top universities from around the world to compete at the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University each spring in front of over 300 investors and other judges for over $1.5 million in prize money. Past RBPC alumni have raised more than $3.5 billion in funding.This achievement attracted the attention of Goose Capital, which led to the success of this round” added Brüll.

Goose Capital began 15 years ago as a small group of successful executives committed to supporting emerging entrepreneurs and has evolved into a professional investment organization providing capital, mentorship, and board members to early-stage companies. Members of Goose Capital have broad experience across multiple industry sectors. Goose Capital has invested over $50 million in start-ups, and currently has around twenty companies in its portfolio. Goose Capital provides the Grand Prize at the Rice Business Plan Competition and often provides much more, having invested over $20 million in RBPC winners alone.We are thrilled to be part of this incredible competition, delivering high quality teams to Rice, from Universities in Europe and Asia”, said Ashok Rao, past Chairman of TiE Global and the founder of this feeder competition program along with Brad Burke, Managing Director of the Rice Alliance.“ Our teams from Europe and Asia have acquitted themselves admirably for the 10 years this program has been in existence with 4 teams having made it the finals while obtaining over $10 million in investment from Goose.” And in his role of Board Director of Goose Capital and future Chairman of the Board of Directors of FibreCoat, Rao added “FibreCoat is an exciting investment opportunity for our Goose members. The interest level was so high that this offering was oversubscribed by 200%.“ https://www.goose.capital/

The b.value team has more than 40 years of experience in setting up, leading, and developing technology companies and commercializing biotechnological developments. Their investment philosophy focuses on talented entrepreneurs who want to create a passionate company with knowledge and courage from a business model with high scalability and disruptive proprietary technology. “We are very proud to welcome FibreCoat with their ground-breaking composite fibres to our portfolio. We believe that FibreCoat will revolutionize the composites market in the coming years, and b.value AG is delighted to be part of this journey,” said Georg Lentzen, Managing Director, b.value. www.b-value.de.

Phoenix Venture Partners (PVP) invests at the convergence of advanced materials, biology and hardware with advanced computation and AI. PVP employs a multi-stage investment strategy, encompassing both seed and venture investment programs, and assists entrepreneurs with customer and supply chain business development. https://phoenix-vp.com/

NOVA by Saint-Gobain, the corporate venturing arm of Saint-Gobain, acts as a bridge by working with qualified start-ups by providing access to Saint-Gobain's internal resources and helping start-ups form long-term partnerships. Rooted in trust, expertise, support, and flexibility, the NOVA team supports entrepreneurs whose focus aligns with their expertise to create a path to market. “Our partnership with FibreCoat will bring innovative solutions to our customers and aligns well with our mission of making the world the better home,” said Minas Apelian, Vice President, Internal and External Venturing, Saint-Gobain. https://www.nova-saint-gobain.com/

The mission of the TiE Houston Angels is to foster entrepreneurship through mentoring, networking, education, funding, and incubation. With a focus on giving back to the community, TiE’s focus is on generating and nurturing the next generation of entrepreneurs. The overall aim is to empower individuals and create wealth in communities by assisting entrepreneurs. https://houston.tie.org/ 

FibreCoat is interested to connect with anyone interested in affordable conductive fibres and would like to reach out to info@fibrecoat.de or visit www.fibrecoat.de.

About FibreCoat GmbH

FibreCoat GmbH is a start-up company based in Aachen, Germany, offering a revolutionary coating technology for coated fibres in composite and shielding applications as a basic building block for tomorrow's mobility and construction industries. To make high-performance materials affordable for high-volume production, FibreCoat focuses on continuous innovation and strong partnerships. Learn more at https://www.fibrecoat.de/.

Aachen 21.10.2021 - FibreCoat GmbHan innovative composite materials spin-off from the Institut für Textiltechnik (ITA) of RWTH Aachen, announces it closed a $3 million Series A round with Goose Capital, Phoenix Venture Partners, b.value AG, NOVA by Saint-Gobain and the TiE Houston Angels, led by Ashok Rao (Goose Capital). The capital raised is being used to expand the FibreCoat team to increase sales and marketing activities as the company looks to increase capacity and to allow FibreCoat to build new partnerships in the construction, electronics, and automotive industry.

These strong investors offer a knowledgeable background in materials and a diverse network into the markets we serve as we lay the foundation for scaling our technology to increase our capacity from 10 tons per month by the end of 2021 to 60 tons per month in 2022” said Robert Brüll, CEO, FibreCoat.

FibreCoat offers a revolutionary coating technology for fibres in composite and shielding applications as a basic building block for tomorrow's mobility and construction industries. Developed by co-founders Robert Brüll, Alexander Lüking, and Richard Haas as part of their doctoral studies at the RWTH Aachen University (Germany), FibreCoat’s product lines include AluCoat, metal-coated basalt fibres used for electromagnetic shielding and conducting applications, and PolyCoat, thermoplastic-coated glass fibres used for strengthening and light weighting applications. The coated fibres provide substantial quality advantages due to the single-filament coating and the tunability of the materials (e.g., adjustable coating thickness, homogeneity, thin core fibres). FibreCoat produces application- and customer-specific bicomponent filaments for a wide range of applications resulting in disruptive advances in the composite and EMI shielding industries. It provides a significant advantage over other technologies due to its high speed and one-step technology process, with substantial-quality advantages resulting from the single-fibre coating. The high-performance fibres not only improve existing products but enable completely new mass market applications in areas ranging from light-weight EMI shielding in electric vehicles and defence applications to drape-able EMI shielding fabrics for smart textiles or wallpapers in hospitals.

In addition to high-coating flexibility, our extensive network for customer-specific processing of coated fibres differentiates us from our competitors” said Brüll. “Our first market-ready product, AluCoatsaves up to 90 percent in CO2 emissions during production when compared to alternative materials, such as solid metal fibres, and aluminium foils and sheets, while also being fully recyclable.“

The Series A funding was a result of FibreCoat’s outstanding technology and performance at this year’s Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC), where the company was represented as the TiE Global automatic European entry after successfully winning TiE Global’s feeder competition in Europe. As the largest intercollegiate start-up competition in the world, RBPC provided the perfect combination with TiE for FibreCoat to leverage an extensive network, placing third in the final competition. The RBPC invites start-ups from 42 top universities from around the world to compete at the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University each spring in front of over 300 investors and other judges for over $1.5 million in prize money. Past RBPC alumni have raised more than $3.5 billion in funding.This achievement attracted the attention of Goose Capital, which led to the success of this round” added Brüll.

Goose Capital began 15 years ago as a small group of successful executives committed to supporting emerging entrepreneurs and has evolved into a professional investment organization providing capital, mentorship, and board members to early-stage companies. Members of Goose Capital have broad experience across multiple industry sectors. Goose Capital has invested over $50 million in start-ups, and currently has around twenty companies in its portfolio. Goose Capital provides the Grand Prize at the Rice Business Plan Competition and often provides much more, having invested over $20 million in RBPC winners alone.We are thrilled to be part of this incredible competition, delivering high quality teams to Rice, from Universities in Europe and Asia”, said Ashok Rao, past Chairman of TiE Global and the founder of this feeder competition program along with Brad Burke, Managing Director of the Rice Alliance.“ Our teams from Europe and Asia have acquitted themselves admirably for the 10 years this program has been in existence with 4 teams having made it the finals while obtaining over $10 million in investment from Goose.” And in his role of Board Director of Goose Capital and future Chairman of the Board of Directors of FibreCoat, Rao added “FibreCoat is an exciting investment opportunity for our Goose members. The interest level was so high that this offering was oversubscribed by 200%.“ https://www.goose.capital/

The b.value team has more than 40 years of experience in setting up, leading, and developing technology companies and commercializing biotechnological developments. Their investment philosophy focuses on talented entrepreneurs who want to create a passionate company with knowledge and courage from a business model with high scalability and disruptive proprietary technology. “We are very proud to welcome FibreCoat with their ground-breaking composite fibres to our portfolio. We believe that FibreCoat will revolutionize the composites market in the coming years, and b.value AG is delighted to be part of this journey,” said Georg Lentzen, Managing Director, b.value. www.b-value.de.

Phoenix Venture Partners (PVP) invests at the convergence of advanced materials, biology and hardware with advanced computation and AI. PVP employs a multi-stage investment strategy, encompassing both seed and venture investment programs, and assists entrepreneurs with customer and supply chain business development. https://phoenix-vp.com/

NOVA by Saint-Gobain, the corporate venturing arm of Saint-Gobain, acts as a bridge by working with qualified start-ups by providing access to Saint-Gobain's internal resources and helping start-ups form long-term partnerships. Rooted in trust, expertise, support, and flexibility, the NOVA team supports entrepreneurs whose focus aligns with their expertise to create a path to market. “Our partnership with FibreCoat will bring innovative solutions to our customers and aligns well with our mission of making the world the better home,” said Minas Apelian, Vice President, Internal and External Venturing, Saint-Gobain. https://www.nova-saint-gobain.com/

The mission of the TiE Houston Angels is to foster entrepreneurship through mentoring, networking, education, funding, and incubation. With a focus on giving back to the community, TiE’s focus is on generating and nurturing the next generation of entrepreneurs. The overall aim is to empower individuals and create wealth in communities by assisting entrepreneurs. https://houston.tie.org/ 

FibreCoat is interested to connect with anyone interested in affordable conductive fibres and would like to reach out to info@fibrecoat.de or visit www.fibrecoat.de.

About FibreCoat GmbH

FibreCoat GmbH is a start-up company based in Aachen, Germany, offering a revolutionary coating technology for coated fibres in composite and shielding applications as a basic building block for tomorrow's mobility and construction industries. To make high-performance materials affordable for high-volume production, FibreCoat focuses on continuous innovation and strong partnerships. Learn more at https://www.fibrecoat.de/.

21.10.2021

The female-founded start-up traceless materials that developed a holistically sustainable alternative material for plastic, receives a €2.42million grant and equity investment from the European Innovation Council (EIC). The funding will allow traceless to bring its novel naturally compostable biomaterial to market, substituting plastic and bioplastic in products that can easily end up in the environment - solving global plastic pollution. 

Since its founding in September 2020 traceless has shown clear ambitions to bring their materials to market fast. The continuously growing team is developing several prototypes, among others an e-commerce shipping bag with OTTO (https://www.otto.de/newsroom/de/kundenfokus/kampf-gegen-plastikmuell-wie-traceless- die-welt-aufraeumen-will), one of Europe's biggest e-commerce companies. Simultaneously, a successful seed investment allowed traceless materials to build its first pilot production plant to realize first market pilots. The company will use the EIC funding to further accelerate its scale up through the building of a demonstration production plant which will enable a first market entry for traceless materials. 

The EIC evaluation committee praises the excellence of traceless’ invention: “The proposed innovation represents a true breakthrough in the field of plastic materials as it combines a circular and sustainable approach, based upon agricultural waste, innovative transformation steps, and final characteristics of the materials, which are beyond the state of the art and will bring a fully biodegradable solution in many sectors. The combination of biodegradability with specific thermomechanical, barrier and compatibility properties, can generate relevant market opportunities, especially from the packaging industry.”

Learn more about traceless materials and read the official press release.

The female-founded start-up traceless materials that developed a holistically sustainable alternative material for plastic, receives a €2.42million grant and equity investment from the European Innovation Council (EIC). The funding will allow traceless to bring its novel naturally compostable biomaterial to market, substituting plastic and bioplastic in products that can easily end up in the environment - solving global plastic pollution. 

Since its founding in September 2020 traceless has shown clear ambitions to bring their materials to market fast. The continuously growing team is developing several prototypes, among others an e-commerce shipping bag with OTTO (https://www.otto.de/newsroom/de/kundenfokus/kampf-gegen-plastikmuell-wie-traceless- die-welt-aufraeumen-will), one of Europe's biggest e-commerce companies. Simultaneously, a successful seed investment allowed traceless materials to build its first pilot production plant to realize first market pilots. The company will use the EIC funding to further accelerate its scale up through the building of a demonstration production plant which will enable a first market entry for traceless materials. 

The EIC evaluation committee praises the excellence of traceless’ invention: “The proposed innovation represents a true breakthrough in the field of plastic materials as it combines a circular and sustainable approach, based upon agricultural waste, innovative transformation steps, and final characteristics of the materials, which are beyond the state of the art and will bring a fully biodegradable solution in many sectors. The combination of biodegradability with specific thermomechanical, barrier and compatibility properties, can generate relevant market opportunities, especially from the packaging industry.”

Learn more about traceless materials and read the official press release.

01.07.2021

Actome GmbH, a life‐science start‐up company from the University of Freiburg and Hahn‐Schickard, Germany has closed a seed investment agreement with b.value AG, Düsseldorf, Germany and further investors. The seed investment will be used to establish the operative business and to bring Actome’s first commercial products to the market. The first in class products will support life science researchers by enabling the quantification of proteins and protein interactions in biological samples with hitherto unseen sensitivity and specificity.

The unique performance of Actome’s products is based on the patented "Emulsion Coupling" technology that detects single protein molecules and protein interaction complexes by translating protein status into DNA‐barcodes. These barcodes are then detected by the method of digital PCR and decoded by a proprietary software developed by Actome. “Our technology expands the capabilities of digital PCR from nucleic acids to proteins. The application of our technology in the fields of proteomics, molecular pathway research and biomarker discovery will help to increase our knowledge about molecular biological processes and will transform medical diagnostics in an unprecedented way.” says Csaba Jeney, co‐founder, CEO, and inventor of the technology.

Proteins control and direct biological processes through their interactions, the so‐called interactome, by which they determine our health and wellbeing. Tools to study the interactome enable the understanding of cellular processes and open up an enormous potential for research, diagnostics and therapies. Tackling these challenges, Actome's innovative technology is a breakthrough that will revolutionize research and biomedicine. The managing director of b.value AG, Peter Kallien, is excited about these opportunities: “This is why Actome fascinated us from the first moment on. We have been impressed how the team developed an extraordinary precise technology with huge benefits for proteomics research, which will allow to define better diagnostic biomarkers and therapies.”

In addition to the investment, b.value AG will actively support Actome’s business development in the future to increase outreach and accelerate growth. Further continued support by the University of Freiburg, Hahn‐Schickard, BadenCampus, Life‐science Accelerator Baden‐Württemberg, bwcon and Science4life is gratefully acknowledged by Actome.

About Actome GmbH

Actome is a privately held young life‐science startup founded in 2017. The year before Dr. Jeney moved from Budapest to Freiburg to partner with Dr. Koltay and to leverage his start‐up experience and the excellent environment provided by the University of Freiburg and the research provider Hahn‐Schickard in Freiburg. Actome provides assay kits, bioinformatics software and services for the sensitive, highly parallel and quantitative measurement of proteins and protein interactions. The long term vision of Actome is to decode the whole interactome and to exploit these discoveries in molecular diagnostic products for personalized medicine. Actome’s first products will target the research market with a specific focus on assay‐kits for multi‐omics and single cell analysis. www.actome.de

About b.value AG

Beyond investing as a seed venture capital provider for biotechnology, life sciences and chemistry, b.value AG actively support their portfolio companies in the development with the unique “b.value Company Building” approach: Portfolio companies benefit from the high level of technological expertise and operational experience of the b.value team. The managing team has more than 40 years of experience in setting up, leading, and developing technology companies and commercializing biotechnological developments. Moreover, they profit from the accumulated experience of b.value ́s supervisory board and broad network. www.b-value.de 

For further information, please contact:

Dr. Peter Koltay, CEO

Phone: +49 761 203 73240 E‐Mail: peter.koltay@actome.de

Actome GmbH, a life‐science start‐up company from the University of Freiburg and Hahn‐Schickard, Germany has closed a seed investment agreement with b.value AG, Düsseldorf, Germany and further investors. The seed investment will be used to establish the operative business and to bring Actome’s first commercial products to the market. The first in class products will support life science researchers by enabling the quantification of proteins and protein interactions in biological samples with hitherto unseen sensitivity and specificity.

The unique performance of Actome’s products is based on the patented "Emulsion Coupling" technology that detects single protein molecules and protein interaction complexes by translating protein status into DNA‐barcodes. These barcodes are then detected by the method of digital PCR and decoded by a proprietary software developed by Actome. “Our technology expands the capabilities of digital PCR from nucleic acids to proteins. The application of our technology in the fields of proteomics, molecular pathway research and biomarker discovery will help to increase our knowledge about molecular biological processes and will transform medical diagnostics in an unprecedented way.” says Csaba Jeney, co‐founder, CEO, and inventor of the technology.

Proteins control and direct biological processes through their interactions, the so‐called interactome, by which they determine our health and wellbeing. Tools to study the interactome enable the understanding of cellular processes and open up an enormous potential for research, diagnostics and therapies. Tackling these challenges, Actome's innovative technology is a breakthrough that will revolutionize research and biomedicine. The managing director of b.value AG, Peter Kallien, is excited about these opportunities: “This is why Actome fascinated us from the first moment on. We have been impressed how the team developed an extraordinary precise technology with huge benefits for proteomics research, which will allow to define better diagnostic biomarkers and therapies.”

In addition to the investment, b.value AG will actively support Actome’s business development in the future to increase outreach and accelerate growth. Further continued support by the University of Freiburg, Hahn‐Schickard, BadenCampus, Life‐science Accelerator Baden‐Württemberg, bwcon and Science4life is gratefully acknowledged by Actome.

About Actome GmbH

Actome is a privately held young life‐science startup founded in 2017. The year before Dr. Jeney moved from Budapest to Freiburg to partner with Dr. Koltay and to leverage his start‐up experience and the excellent environment provided by the University of Freiburg and the research provider Hahn‐Schickard in Freiburg. Actome provides assay kits, bioinformatics software and services for the sensitive, highly parallel and quantitative measurement of proteins and protein interactions. The long term vision of Actome is to decode the whole interactome and to exploit these discoveries in molecular diagnostic products for personalized medicine. Actome’s first products will target the research market with a specific focus on assay‐kits for multi‐omics and single cell analysis. www.actome.de

About b.value AG

Beyond investing as a seed venture capital provider for biotechnology, life sciences and chemistry, b.value AG actively support their portfolio companies in the development with the unique “b.value Company Building” approach: Portfolio companies benefit from the high level of technological expertise and operational experience of the b.value team. The managing team has more than 40 years of experience in setting up, leading, and developing technology companies and commercializing biotechnological developments. Moreover, they profit from the accumulated experience of b.value ́s supervisory board and broad network. www.b-value.de 

For further information, please contact:

Dr. Peter Koltay, CEO

Phone: +49 761 203 73240 E‐Mail: peter.koltay@actome.de

03.05.2021

The b.value AG invests in the Hamburg-based female-founded start-up traceless materials GmbH together with the HighTech Gründerfonds (HTGF) and the impact investor Planet A. The investment will help to foster the scale-up, the further product development and the team recruiting.

traceless, founded by the investor Dr. Anne Lamp and her co-founder Johanna Baare in Septembre 2020, aims to develop and to produce 100 % bio-based and fully compostable materials as sustainable alternative to conventional (bio)plastics for packaging and other single-use applications. The traceless materials will contribute to solve the global plastic pollution and have a broad application with enormous market potential. b.value has evaluated diverse companies developing sustainable plastic alternatives, but none of them have been characterized by this outstanding combination of such a powerful management team, a superior technology with pronounced competitive advantages, a predominant material performance, and a holistic sustainability. The seed funding impels the development of first market pilots and its market launch. The strong founding team have great plants and we are glad to support them with our technical and operational expertise to foster the developing of the traceless materials' potential to solve the global plastic pollution.

Please find more information on traceless and its ambitious aims as well as on the seed investors in the official press release and at www.traceless.eu

Congratulations to Anne, Johanna and their team on the Green Ally Award! Although founded 7 months ago, the team already won several renowned awards demonstrating traceless's potential. 

The b.value AG invests in the Hamburg-based female-founded start-up traceless materials GmbH together with the HighTech Gründerfonds (HTGF) and the impact investor Planet A. The investment will help to foster the scale-up, the further product development and the team recruiting.

traceless, founded by the investor Dr. Anne Lamp and her co-founder Johanna Baare in Septembre 2020, aims to develop and to produce 100 % bio-based and fully compostable materials as sustainable alternative to conventional (bio)plastics for packaging and other single-use applications. The traceless materials will contribute to solve the global plastic pollution and have a broad application with enormous market potential. b.value has evaluated diverse companies developing sustainable plastic alternatives, but none of them have been characterized by this outstanding combination of such a powerful management team, a superior technology with pronounced competitive advantages, a predominant material performance, and a holistic sustainability. The seed funding impels the development of first market pilots and its market launch. The strong founding team have great plants and we are glad to support them with our technical and operational expertise to foster the developing of the traceless materials' potential to solve the global plastic pollution.

Please find more information on traceless and its ambitious aims as well as on the seed investors in the official press release and at www.traceless.eu

Congratulations to Anne, Johanna and their team on the Green Ally Award! Although founded 7 months ago, the team already won several renowned awards demonstrating traceless's potential. 

12.02.2021

Dr. Jürgen Eck, member of the b.value supervisory board, has been appointed as a new member of the German Bioeconomy Council. This committee is an independent advisory body to the German Federal Government and advises it on how to implement the National Bioeconomy Strategy 2030 published in 2020. Congratulations to Dr. Eck! We wish him all success in his new responsible tasks.

Further information on the tasks of the Bioeconomy Council and the new composition of the board in a corresponding Press release of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

Dr. Jürgen Eck, member of the b.value supervisory board, has been appointed as a new member of the German Bioeconomy Council. This committee is an independent advisory body to the German Federal Government and advises it on how to implement the National Bioeconomy Strategy 2030 published in 2020. Congratulations to Dr. Eck! We wish him all success in his new responsible tasks.

Further information on the tasks of the Bioeconomy Council and the new composition of the board in a corresponding Press release of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

08.12.2020

The German business magazine Business Punk ranks Lutz Kloke, CEO of the Cellbricks GmbH, among its “100 founders, movers and creative minds 2021”. The article underlines the potential of the b.value portfolio company and its founder in the area of bioprinting and medical devices. Lutz and his team have ambitious plans for 2021 and b.value wishes all the best for reaching these aims.

The German business magazine Business Punk ranks Lutz Kloke, CEO of the Cellbricks GmbH, among its “100 founders, movers and creative minds 2021”. The article underlines the potential of the b.value portfolio company and its founder in the area of bioprinting and medical devices. Lutz and his team have ambitious plans for 2021 and b.value wishes all the best for reaching these aims.

04.11.2020

Peter Kallien, managing director of the b.value AG, has been elected to the board of the biotech cluster CLIB located in Duesseldorf.

CLIB is an international network with approximately 100 members, coming from diverse branches of the biotechnology and bioeconomy. The cluster connects its members and beyond to boost biotech innovations and novel business models. Having this in common with the b.value mission, Peter Kallien elucidates his upcoming task: “CLIB has made significant contributions to numerous bio innovations within the last 12 years resulting in an impressive track record among national and international clusters. Therefore, I look forward to contributing my experience and knowledge in technology transfer in biotechnology to further advance CLIB’s development.”

If you are interested in a membership in CLIB, get in contact with the cluster team! https://www.clib2021.de.

Peter Kallien, managing director of the b.value AG, has been elected to the board of the biotech cluster CLIB located in Duesseldorf.

CLIB is an international network with approximately 100 members, coming from diverse branches of the biotechnology and bioeconomy. The cluster connects its members and beyond to boost biotech innovations and novel business models. Having this in common with the b.value mission, Peter Kallien elucidates his upcoming task: “CLIB has made significant contributions to numerous bio innovations within the last 12 years resulting in an impressive track record among national and international clusters. Therefore, I look forward to contributing my experience and knowledge in technology transfer in biotechnology to further advance CLIB’s development.”

If you are interested in a membership in CLIB, get in contact with the cluster team! https://www.clib2021.de.

28.10.2020

b.value AG, specializing in investments in early-stage biotechnology and chemistry start-ups, together with VC Fonds Technologie Berlin, managed by IBB Ventures, invested in the rapidly growing chemistry start-up Nano-Join GmbH. The investment is intended to drive forward the scaling of production and internationalization.

Nano-Join GmbH is a young technology company from Berlin, founded in 2015 as a spin-off of the Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin). The company's goal is to achieve a leading position in silver sintering by developing and producing patented silver-based materials for contacting e.g. components of power electronics, lasers or sensors. Led by Drs. Adrian Stelzer and Battist Rábay, Nano-Join has a competent team that has built experience in the development and production of sintering pastes over many years. Battist Rábay: "With the investment of b.value AG and IBB Ventures we now have the opportunity to take the next steps for Nano-Join. We will use the investment further expand our production capacities and, while maintaining the same high quality, to further increase our output and open up new markets. In the long term, this will enable us to continue offering our customers innovative technologies and products with the highest quality standards and best service. We are pleased to be able to continue on this path with two strong partners".

Peter Kallien, managing director of b.value AG: "The attractive investment case for Nano-Join is based on the rapidly increasing demand for power electronic control units, e.g. for electrical vehicles or in industrial electronics, which define new and higher requirements for miniaturization, reliability, operating temperature, switching frequency, and current carrying capacity of power semiconductors".

Sabine Wolff, Investment Manager at IBB Ventures adds: "The team, the market and the strong growth potential convinced us to invest in Nano-Join. We are very pleased to accompany Nano-Join together with b.value in their next steps".

b.value AG

b.value AG invests in talented entrepreneurs who want to build a company with disruptive and IP-protected technologies, courage, and passion with a business model with high scalability. b.value AG focuses on non-pharmaceutical biotechnology and chemistry in the D-A-CH region. It follows the megatrends health, nutrition, resource efficiency and digitalization. The aim is to build a long-term portfolio of fast-growing, young start-ups. http://www.b-value.de

About IBB Ventures

IBB Ventures (www.ibbventures.de) has been providing venture capital to innovative Berlin-based companies since 1997 and has established itself as the market leader in early stage financing in Berlin. The funds are primarily used for the development and market launch of innovative products or services as well as for business concepts of the creative industries. Currently, two funds with a total volume of EUR 100 million are in the investment phase. Both VC funds are financed by the Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), managed by the State of Berlin. IBB Ventures has already invested in more than 210 Berlin creative and technology companies; in consortia with partners, the start-ups received approximately EUR 1.52 billion, of which IBB Ventures invested EUR 217 million as lead, co-lead or co-investor. IBB Ventures is the umbrella brand for the VC activities of IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft.

Nano-Join GmbH

Nano-Join GmbH is a young technology company based in Berlin. The primary goal of Nano-Join's innovative sintering solutions is to make high-performance electronic components for optoelectronics, e-mobility and renewable energies more powerful and efficient. https://www.nano-join.de/

b.value AG, specializing in investments in early-stage biotechnology and chemistry start-ups, together with VC Fonds Technologie Berlin, managed by IBB Ventures, invested in the rapidly growing chemistry start-up Nano-Join GmbH. The investment is intended to drive forward the scaling of production and internationalization.

Nano-Join GmbH is a young technology company from Berlin, founded in 2015 as a spin-off of the Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin). The company's goal is to achieve a leading position in silver sintering by developing and producing patented silver-based materials for contacting e.g. components of power electronics, lasers or sensors. Led by Drs. Adrian Stelzer and Battist Rábay, Nano-Join has a competent team that has built experience in the development and production of sintering pastes over many years. Battist Rábay: "With the investment of b.value AG and IBB Ventures we now have the opportunity to take the next steps for Nano-Join. We will use the investment further expand our production capacities and, while maintaining the same high quality, to further increase our output and open up new markets. In the long term, this will enable us to continue offering our customers innovative technologies and products with the highest quality standards and best service. We are pleased to be able to continue on this path with two strong partners".

Peter Kallien, managing director of b.value AG: "The attractive investment case for Nano-Join is based on the rapidly increasing demand for power electronic control units, e.g. for electrical vehicles or in industrial electronics, which define new and higher requirements for miniaturization, reliability, operating temperature, switching frequency, and current carrying capacity of power semiconductors".

Sabine Wolff, Investment Manager at IBB Ventures adds: "The team, the market and the strong growth potential convinced us to invest in Nano-Join. We are very pleased to accompany Nano-Join together with b.value in their next steps".

b.value AG

b.value AG invests in talented entrepreneurs who want to build a company with disruptive and IP-protected technologies, courage, and passion with a business model with high scalability. b.value AG focuses on non-pharmaceutical biotechnology and chemistry in the D-A-CH region. It follows the megatrends health, nutrition, resource efficiency and digitalization. The aim is to build a long-term portfolio of fast-growing, young start-ups. http://www.b-value.de

About IBB Ventures

IBB Ventures (www.ibbventures.de) has been providing venture capital to innovative Berlin-based companies since 1997 and has established itself as the market leader in early stage financing in Berlin. The funds are primarily used for the development and market launch of innovative products or services as well as for business concepts of the creative industries. Currently, two funds with a total volume of EUR 100 million are in the investment phase. Both VC funds are financed by the Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), managed by the State of Berlin. IBB Ventures has already invested in more than 210 Berlin creative and technology companies; in consortia with partners, the start-ups received approximately EUR 1.52 billion, of which IBB Ventures invested EUR 217 million as lead, co-lead or co-investor. IBB Ventures is the umbrella brand for the VC activities of IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft.

Nano-Join GmbH

Nano-Join GmbH is a young technology company based in Berlin. The primary goal of Nano-Join's innovative sintering solutions is to make high-performance electronic components for optoelectronics, e-mobility and renewable energies more powerful and efficient. https://www.nano-join.de/

23.09.2020

Dr. Jürgen Eck will be part of b.value’s supervisory board. “As Dr. Eck is a co-founder and former CEO of the B.R.A.I.N AG, we have gained one of the leading experts of the German biotech industry.” commented Peter Kallien, member of the managing board of b.value AG. “He made significant contributions to the outstanding success story of the B.R.A.I.N as the most known biotech company in Germany.B.R.A.I.N AG’s successful IPO in 2016 with 61 Million € raised capital was spearheaded by Dr. Eck’s as CEO. His extraordinary knowledge and insights into the industrial biotech will help us to boost b.value’s future development.”

The shareholders and the operative team of the b.value AG are considering the the year 2020 positively. In the 4th quarter, b.value plans to invest in two other companies (closing of first investment end of September) and to finish its fundraising with 2nd closing. Both will strengthen b.value’s portfolio by future-oriented technologies and products. “2020 has been a good year for b.value despite global difficulties. This year elucidated the power of biotech and we could demonstrated that b.value can profit from this development.” explained Peter Kallien. 

Dr. Jürgen Eck will be part of b.value’s supervisory board. “As Dr. Eck is a co-founder and former CEO of the B.R.A.I.N AG, we have gained one of the leading experts of the German biotech industry.” commented Peter Kallien, member of the managing board of b.value AG. “He made significant contributions to the outstanding success story of the B.R.A.I.N as the most known biotech company in Germany.B.R.A.I.N AG’s successful IPO in 2016 with 61 Million € raised capital was spearheaded by Dr. Eck’s as CEO. His extraordinary knowledge and insights into the industrial biotech will help us to boost b.value’s future development.”

The shareholders and the operative team of the b.value AG are considering the the year 2020 positively. In the 4th quarter, b.value plans to invest in two other companies (closing of first investment end of September) and to finish its fundraising with 2nd closing. Both will strengthen b.value’s portfolio by future-oriented technologies and products. “2020 has been a good year for b.value despite global difficulties. This year elucidated the power of biotech and we could demonstrated that b.value can profit from this development.” explained Peter Kallien. 

25.07.2020

The b.value AG secures a first closing financing by end of June. The investment will support b.value to invest in 2-3 start-ups which is in line with its investment plans for 2020 in spite of the corona crisis. The fundraising will be closed in the fourth calendar quarter.

The b.value AG secures a first closing financing by end of June. The investment will support b.value to invest in 2-3 start-ups which is in line with its investment plans for 2020 in spite of the corona crisis. The fundraising will be closed in the fourth calendar quarter.

23.07.2020

Our co-founder and former managing director

Dr. Thomas Schwarz

passed away on 10th July 2020.

With Thomas, we are losing a visionary personality and passioned proponent of biotechnological innovations.

He will long remain in our grateful memories and will further shape our work at the b.value AG.

Please find the fully German obituary at

https://www.bvalue-ag.com/2459/823.html

Our co-founder and former managing director

Dr. Thomas Schwarz

passed away on 10th July 2020.

With Thomas, we are losing a visionary personality and passioned proponent of biotechnological innovations.

He will long remain in our grateful memories and will further shape our work at the b.value AG.

Please find the fully German obituary at

https://www.bvalue-ag.com/2459/823.html

09.03.2020

We congratulate Dr. Frank Kensy and b.fab GmbH for their success!

b.fab GmbH received the official letter for project funding from BMBF (German Federal Ministry of Education and Research) at the end of February as part of the call CO2-WIN. The project “TRANSFORMATE” coordinated by b.fab has set the goal to convert CO2 emissions from industrial parks into valuable biopolymers. In addition to b.fab, the project consortium includes a total of 7 project partners from academia and industry: Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology, Max Planck Institute for Colloids and Interfaces, University Stuttgart, Ertel IonStream UG, Plinke GmbH, YNCORIS GmbH & Co. KG and Dechema e.V.. The project runs for 3 years from 01.03.2020 to 28.02.2023.

We congratulate Dr. Frank Kensy and b.fab GmbH for their success!

b.fab GmbH received the official letter for project funding from BMBF (German Federal Ministry of Education and Research) at the end of February as part of the call CO2-WIN. The project “TRANSFORMATE” coordinated by b.fab has set the goal to convert CO2 emissions from industrial parks into valuable biopolymers. In addition to b.fab, the project consortium includes a total of 7 project partners from academia and industry: Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology, Max Planck Institute for Colloids and Interfaces, University Stuttgart, Ertel IonStream UG, Plinke GmbH, YNCORIS GmbH & Co. KG and Dechema e.V.. The project runs for 3 years from 01.03.2020 to 28.02.2023.

21.12.2019

We congratulate Dr. Frank Kensy and b.fab GmbH for their success as the winner of the KUER Businessplan Competition.
The competition sought start-up teams that are exemplary for the innovative strength and diversity of the environmental economy in North Rhine-Westphalia.

We congratulate Dr. Frank Kensy and b.fab GmbH for their success as the winner of the KUER Businessplan Competition.
The competition sought start-up teams that are exemplary for the innovative strength and diversity of the environmental economy in North Rhine-Westphalia.

22.11.2019

Cellbricks was honored by "Capital.de" as one of the top entrepreneurs under the age of 40. We congratulate Lutz Kloke on this great success!

Cellbricks was honored by "Capital.de" as one of the top entrepreneurs under the age of 40. We congratulate Lutz Kloke on this great success!

08.11.2019

Cellbricks has been named one of Hello Tomorrow's Deep Tech Pioneers. Selected among more than 5,000 startups from 128 different countries that applied to the Global Challenge. You can meet them at the Hello Tomorrow Global Summit in Paris on 12th-13th March 2020. Congratulations!

Cellbricks has been named one of Hello Tomorrow's Deep Tech Pioneers. Selected among more than 5,000 startups from 128 different countries that applied to the Global Challenge. You can meet them at the Hello Tomorrow Global Summit in Paris on 12th-13th March 2020. Congratulations!

05.11.2019

German TV show "Mittagsmagazin" accompanied the Cellbricks team during the production of a liver model and illustrated the enormous application potential of the Cellbricks organ models for example in the drug discovery without animal testing.

Mittagsmagazin 05.11.2019 Cellbricks-Beitrag

 

German TV show "Mittagsmagazin" accompanied the Cellbricks team during the production of a liver model and illustrated the enormous application potential of the Cellbricks organ models for example in the drug discovery without animal testing.

Mittagsmagazin 05.11.2019 Cellbricks-Beitrag

 

18.10.2019

Co-founder and CEO Dr. Frank Kensy introduces b.fab in a ChemManager interview. He illustrates the company's vision of an electrification of the bioeconomy to form chemicals and proteins based on CO2 and renewable energy. As a lesson learned, Frank points out that one of the core challenges for start-ups is the acquisition of venture capital in Germany.

Co-founder and CEO Dr. Frank Kensy introduces b.fab in a ChemManager interview. He illustrates the company's vision of an electrification of the bioeconomy to form chemicals and proteins based on CO2 and renewable energy. As a lesson learned, Frank points out that one of the core challenges for start-ups is the acquisition of venture capital in Germany.

04.07.2019

Dr. Georg Lentzen has been appointed as Managing Director of b.value AG as of 01.07.2019. He brings in-depth expertise and knowledge of biotechnological processes, and their commercialisation in young companies, to accelerate the positive development of b.value AG.

Dr Lentzen comes with over 20 years of experience in various leadership roles in biotech companies in the United Kingdom, Germany and The Netherlands. Prior to joining b.value AG, he was Director R&D at the Dutch biotech company Isobionics B.V. where he coordinated the development of a biotech platform for terpene-based flavour and fragrance products. Earlier in his career, he was responsible for R&D at bitop AG (Germany) and led a team in drug discovery at Vernalis plc (UK). Dr. Lentzen received a PhD in biochemistry from the University Witten/Herdecke.

At the same time, Dr. Thomas Schwarz is leaving the management team of the b.value AG. He will continue to support the company as shareholder and ideas provider.

Dr. Georg Lentzen has been appointed as Managing Director of b.value AG as of 01.07.2019. He brings in-depth expertise and knowledge of biotechnological processes, and their commercialisation in young companies, to accelerate the positive development of b.value AG.

Dr Lentzen comes with over 20 years of experience in various leadership roles in biotech companies in the United Kingdom, Germany and The Netherlands. Prior to joining b.value AG, he was Director R&D at the Dutch biotech company Isobionics B.V. where he coordinated the development of a biotech platform for terpene-based flavour and fragrance products. Earlier in his career, he was responsible for R&D at bitop AG (Germany) and led a team in drug discovery at Vernalis plc (UK). Dr. Lentzen received a PhD in biochemistry from the University Witten/Herdecke.

At the same time, Dr. Thomas Schwarz is leaving the management team of the b.value AG. He will continue to support the company as shareholder and ideas provider.

23.05.2019

With its innovative platform technology, b.fab GmbH has won the second prize at the Innovation Day of the Business Metropole Ruhr in the category Concept. This was rewarded with prize money of 1,500 €.

After two already successful years, creative solutions for efficient business were again sought in the nationwide Innovation Call competition. This year's competition was dominated by the megatrend GreenTech: resource conservation, energy and material efficiency. A total of €9,000 in prize money awaited the four best ideas.

With its innovative platform technology, b.fab GmbH has won the second prize at the Innovation Day of the Business Metropole Ruhr in the category Concept. This was rewarded with prize money of 1,500 €.

After two already successful years, creative solutions for efficient business were again sought in the nationwide Innovation Call competition. This year's competition was dominated by the megatrend GreenTech: resource conservation, energy and material efficiency. A total of €9,000 in prize money awaited the four best ideas.

16.04.2019

The nationwide Innovation Call competition seeks creative solutions for efficient business. Following two successful competitions in 2017 and 2018, this year's competition is dominated by the megatrend GreenTech: resource conservation, energy and material efficiency. The four best ideas will receive prize money totaling €9,000.

The final will take place on 21 May 2019 at the ‘Zeche Zollverein”, in which b.fab will also actively participate. Among others, Minister Pinkwart and Prof. Braungart ("Cradle to Cradle") will also be there.

Further information

The nationwide Innovation Call competition seeks creative solutions for efficient business. Following two successful competitions in 2017 and 2018, this year's competition is dominated by the megatrend GreenTech: resource conservation, energy and material efficiency. The four best ideas will receive prize money totaling €9,000.

The final will take place on 21 May 2019 at the ‘Zeche Zollverein”, in which b.fab will also actively participate. Among others, Minister Pinkwart and Prof. Braungart ("Cradle to Cradle") will also be there.

Further information

09.04.2019

At the Handelsblatt Conference Chemie 2019 in Düsseldorf, not only successful chemical companies could present themselves, but also imaginative start-ups. b.fab also took the opportunity to present its innovative business idea to an interested audience.

There were numerous lectures on the challenges facing the chemical industry, such as social responsibility, growth strategies, and digitalization in the chemical industry. Furthermore, the bio-economy and the carbon cycles in the chemical industry were other highlights.

At the Handelsblatt Conference Chemie 2019 in Düsseldorf, not only successful chemical companies could present themselves, but also imaginative start-ups. b.fab also took the opportunity to present its innovative business idea to an interested audience.

There were numerous lectures on the challenges facing the chemical industry, such as social responsibility, growth strategies, and digitalization in the chemical industry. Furthermore, the bio-economy and the carbon cycles in the chemical industry were other highlights.

04.04.2019

The Chemistry Pitch Day was organized by the HTGF together with ALTANA, BASF, Büfa, Evonik, LANXESS and Wacker. b.fab took the opportunity to present its business idea to an exclusive audience of investors and industry experts.

The Chemistry Pitch Day was organized by the HTGF together with ALTANA, BASF, Büfa, Evonik, LANXESS and Wacker. b.fab took the opportunity to present its business idea to an exclusive audience of investors and industry experts.

21.03.2019

The innovation prize "Best CO2 Utilisation 2019", awarded for the first time, went to Carbicrete (Canada) for cementless concrete. The second place was given to Nordic Blue Crude (Norway) with synthetic kerosene, petrol, and diesel made from CO2, and the third winner was b.fab (Germany) with innovative biotechnology based on synthetic biology. 

The three winners were chosen by the expert audience at the "7th Conference on Carbon Dioxide as Feedstock for Fuels, Chemistry and Polymers" after brief presentations by the six nominated companies. A jury of 20 candidates had previously selected these finalists. With 200 participants, the conference was able to further establish itself as one of the world's most important meeting places for the young CO2 use industry.

Read the detailed article here

The innovation prize "Best CO2 Utilisation 2019", awarded for the first time, went to Carbicrete (Canada) for cementless concrete. The second place was given to Nordic Blue Crude (Norway) with synthetic kerosene, petrol, and diesel made from CO2, and the third winner was b.fab (Germany) with innovative biotechnology based on synthetic biology. 

The three winners were chosen by the expert audience at the "7th Conference on Carbon Dioxide as Feedstock for Fuels, Chemistry and Polymers" after brief presentations by the six nominated companies. A jury of 20 candidates had previously selected these finalists. With 200 participants, the conference was able to further establish itself as one of the world's most important meeting places for the young CO2 use industry.

Read the detailed article here

14.02.2019

The announcement of the first Innovation Award "Best CO2 Utilization 2019" has brought forth a multitude of outstanding innovations in the field of Carbon Capture & Utilization (CCU), which showed how active companies are in the implementation of CCU. The abundance and quality of the applications surprised and inspired the Advisory Board and selection of the selection of nominees was not trivial.

b.fab was selected as one of the top 6 candidates for the presentation of their CO2 use at the 7th Conference on Carbon Dioxide as Feedstock for Fuels, Chemistry and Polymers on March 20, 2019 in Cologne. Other candidates nominated worldwide include: LanzaTech (USA), Carbicrete (Canada), Nordic Blue Crude (Norway), Gensoric (Germany) and CCm Technologies (England).

The announcement of the first Innovation Award "Best CO2 Utilization 2019" has brought forth a multitude of outstanding innovations in the field of Carbon Capture & Utilization (CCU), which showed how active companies are in the implementation of CCU. The abundance and quality of the applications surprised and inspired the Advisory Board and selection of the selection of nominees was not trivial.

b.fab was selected as one of the top 6 candidates for the presentation of their CO2 use at the 7th Conference on Carbon Dioxide as Feedstock for Fuels, Chemistry and Polymers on March 20, 2019 in Cologne. Other candidates nominated worldwide include: LanzaTech (USA), Carbicrete (Canada), Nordic Blue Crude (Norway), Gensoric (Germany) and CCm Technologies (England).

05.02.2019

We are pleased that Dr. Dahai Yu was named as one of the most successful migrants in Germany by Manager Magazine.

Dr. Yu has been a member of the Supervisory Board of b.value since 2017. He was also a member of the Executive Board of Evonik until 2013, and is now a member of the Supervisory Boards of Lehmann & Voss and Sinochem, among others.

We are pleased that Dr. Dahai Yu was named as one of the most successful migrants in Germany by Manager Magazine.

Dr. Yu has been a member of the Supervisory Board of b.value since 2017. He was also a member of the Executive Board of Evonik until 2013, and is now a member of the Supervisory Boards of Lehmann & Voss and Sinochem, among others.

16.10.2018

SenseUp has won the European EARTO Innovation Award (Impact Expected). The Europe-wide award not only covers biotechnology, but also all research areas of the Helmholtz, Fraunhofer and other European societies.

This will certainly increase the visibility of our participation after winning the Innovation Award NRW and will be useful for SenseUp’s customer acquisition.

The EARTO network includes over 350 research and technology organisations in more than 20 countries.

SenseUp has won the European EARTO Innovation Award (Impact Expected). The Europe-wide award not only covers biotechnology, but also all research areas of the Helmholtz, Fraunhofer and other European societies.

This will certainly increase the visibility of our participation after winning the Innovation Award NRW and will be useful for SenseUp’s customer acquisition.

The EARTO network includes over 350 research and technology organisations in more than 20 countries.

06.09.2018

Anniversary celebration at the new location in Dortmund. Bitop AG celebrates its 25th anniversary in Dortmund. This is where the new production site of the cosmetic active ingredient manufacturer, which is specialised in extremolytes, is established.

Further information:

New location for Bitop

Anniversary celebration at the new location in Dortmund. Bitop AG celebrates its 25th anniversary in Dortmund. This is where the new production site of the cosmetic active ingredient manufacturer, which is specialised in extremolytes, is established.

Further information:

New location for Bitop

30.04.2018

Launch of b.fab GmbH. b.fab GmbH is developing a new generation of bioprocesses that produce valuable chemicals based on CO2, water, and renewable power.

The microbial platform technology is based on conventional, established production organisms that can be programmed quickly and easily using synthetic biology. The company has many years of experience in the field of metabolic design, highly parallel and automated bioprocess development, and scale-up of bioprocesses. The energy- and cost-efficient technology will be developed in partnership with the raw material and chemical industries.

Launch of b.fab GmbH. b.fab GmbH is developing a new generation of bioprocesses that produce valuable chemicals based on CO2, water, and renewable power.

The microbial platform technology is based on conventional, established production organisms that can be programmed quickly and easily using synthetic biology. The company has many years of experience in the field of metabolic design, highly parallel and automated bioprocess development, and scale-up of bioprocesses. The energy- and cost-efficient technology will be developed in partnership with the raw material and chemical industries.

16.04.2018

Düsseldorf, 16. April 2018 - b.value AG, an investment and financing company specialising in young companies in industrial biotechnology, invests in the dynamically growing biotech startup SenseUp GmbH.

b.value AG, an investment and financing company specialising in young companies in industrial biotechnology, invests in the dynamically growing biotech startup SenseUp GmbH.

Founded in 2015, SenseUp develops microbial production strains for the large-scale production of amino acids, for example, as part of a licensing model. The patented SenseUp technology allows 50,000 times faster selection under relevant process conditions than conventional optimisation strategies and thus allows the tailor-made and process-specific development of ready-to-use and optionally GM-free high-performance production organisms.

These are important advantages for SenseUp customers, especially for food and feed applications. The excellent technology and company development in the first two years is reflected with winning the Innovation Award NRW in 2016 and the BMBF funding as part of the „Gründeroffensive Biotechnologie“ (GO-Bio).

b.value AG sees itself as a driving force in the development of startups in the field of industrial biotechnology and chemistry in Germany. Peter Kallien, Managing Director of b.value AG: "The future belongs to biotechnology. With our many years of entrepreneurial experience and industry knowledge, we want to help young companies such as SenseUp to develop their potential to the full".

The two young entrepreneurs Dr. Georg Schaumann and Dr. Stefan Binder, whose doctoral thesis work resulted in the SenseUp technology, are pleased with the trust placed in them and their technology:

"We have been working together with Peter Kallien and Dr. Thomas Schwarz since our first steps towards founding a company and know not only a reliable investor but two competent personalities with various company founding experiences and an extensive network at our side".

The SenseUp Biotechnologie GmbH develops microbial production strains for the biotechnological production of amino acids, peptides and proteins. The patented SenseUp technology enables optical determination of the productivity of microbial strains on the single cell level.

 

This makes it possible to analyze very large cell libraries in a short time under process conditions and to isolate highly productive, upscale-compatible strains. On this basis, SenseUp offers its customers tailor-made production strains, media formulations, and processes.

Düsseldorf, 16. April 2018 - b.value AG, an investment and financing company specialising in young companies in industrial biotechnology, invests in the dynamically growing biotech startup SenseUp GmbH.

b.value AG, an investment and financing company specialising in young companies in industrial biotechnology, invests in the dynamically growing biotech startup SenseUp GmbH.

Founded in 2015, SenseUp develops microbial production strains for the large-scale production of amino acids, for example, as part of a licensing model. The patented SenseUp technology allows 50,000 times faster selection under relevant process conditions than conventional optimisation strategies and thus allows the tailor-made and process-specific development of ready-to-use and optionally GM-free high-performance production organisms.

These are important advantages for SenseUp customers, especially for food and feed applications. The excellent technology and company development in the first two years is reflected with winning the Innovation Award NRW in 2016 and the BMBF funding as part of the „Gründeroffensive Biotechnologie“ (GO-Bio).

b.value AG sees itself as a driving force in the development of startups in the field of industrial biotechnology and chemistry in Germany. Peter Kallien, Managing Director of b.value AG: "The future belongs to biotechnology. With our many years of entrepreneurial experience and industry knowledge, we want to help young companies such as SenseUp to develop their potential to the full".

The two young entrepreneurs Dr. Georg Schaumann and Dr. Stefan Binder, whose doctoral thesis work resulted in the SenseUp technology, are pleased with the trust placed in them and their technology:

"We have been working together with Peter Kallien and Dr. Thomas Schwarz since our first steps towards founding a company and know not only a reliable investor but two competent personalities with various company founding experiences and an extensive network at our side".

The SenseUp Biotechnologie GmbH develops microbial production strains for the biotechnological production of amino acids, peptides and proteins. The patented SenseUp technology enables optical determination of the productivity of microbial strains on the single cell level.

 

This makes it possible to analyze very large cell libraries in a short time under process conditions and to isolate highly productive, upscale-compatible strains. On this basis, SenseUp offers its customers tailor-made production strains, media formulations, and processes.

12.09.2017

SenseUp receives funding in second GO-Bio phase. As early as 2014, SenseUp GmbH was able to convince and received a funding decision from the biotechnology startup offensive (GO-Bio phase I), sponsored by the „Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung. The company has now succeeded in acquiring further funding within the framework of GO-Bio phase II until 2020.

 

SenseUp receives funding in second GO-Bio phase. As early as 2014, SenseUp GmbH was able to convince and received a funding decision from the biotechnology startup offensive (GO-Bio phase I), sponsored by the „Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung. The company has now succeeded in acquiring further funding within the framework of GO-Bio phase II until 2020.

 

01.03.2016

SenseUp GmbH receives the Innovation Award NRW for its innovative sensor technology. This award distinguishes excellent scientific development achievements that show an extraordinary application relevance.

 

SenseUp GmbH receives the Innovation Award NRW for its innovative sensor technology. This award distinguishes excellent scientific development achievements that show an extraordinary application relevance.

 

Contact Person

Dr. Georg Lentzen (Managing Director)

Georg.Lentzen@b-value.de

 

Peter Kallien (Managing Director)

Peter.Kallien@b-value.de

Contact

b.value AG

Otto-Hahn-Straße 15

D-44227 Dortmund

 

+49 (0) 231/79300196

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