Paris, France — [10-Oct-2024] — baCta, an innovative startup focused on revolutionizing natural rubber production, has successfully raised €3.3 million in pre-seed funding. This funding round was led by OVNI Capital, with participation from Kima Ventures, Sharpstone Capital, another.vc, and esteemed business angels including Thibaud Elziere, members of the Hexa team, and Nicolas Morin, co-founder of Gourmey.
Founded in January 2024 by Mathieu Nohet (former founder of Manty), Marie Rouquette (previously Senior Project Manager at Eligo Bioscience), and Selcuk Aslan (formerly Team Lead at Neoplants), baCta is at the forefront of developing biosynthetic, carbon-negative natural rubber through engineered microorganisms and renewable feedstocks.
Natural rubber, a vital $40 billion market, is largely derived from the petrochemical industry and Hevea rubber trees, which face threats from climate change and deforestation. baCta aims to provide a sustainable alternative to this critical raw material.
The startup’s pioneering technology utilizes a synthetic organelles platform developed at INSERM and diversifies feedstock sources to reduce costs while achieving a negative carbon footprint. By leveraging the latest advancements in lab automation, artificial intelligence, and protein modeling, baCta collects proprietary data at an unprecedented pace to model organisms and optimize bioreactors for industrial bio-production.
“This funding marks a significant milestone in our mission to decarbonize the rubber industry,” stated Mathieu Nohet, Founder and CEO of baCta. “Natural rubber is an essential material in our everyday lives, and there are currently no clean alternatives available. We are thrilled to partner with investors who share our vision for sustainable abundance and the potential of microbes as programmable molecular factories.”
baCta has successfully demonstrated proof of concept in bacteria and is now focused on manufacturing the first prototypes in collaboration with leading companies across the fashion and industrial sectors. The next goal is to engineer a microbial strain capable of producing high-quality natural rubber at a pilot scale, leading to the development of a pre-industrial demonstrator.
The newly secured funds will be allocated to research initiatives, expanding the team with top-tier scientists from prestigious universities and biotech companies, and enhancing production capabilities.
While the company is currently dedicated to natural rubber production, its long-term vision includes establishing a platform for producing carbon-negative isoprenoids, which constitute a significant portion of the petrochemical industry.
“Western economies have been overly dependent on other countries for strategic materials, revealing vulnerabilities in our industrial supply chains. Synthetic biology offers a promising solution for creating sustainable and abundant resources,” said Augustin Sayer of OVNI Capital.
“We are excited to invest in baCta due to their exceptional team, which combines strong ambition and a commitment to sustainability with complementary skills in synthetic biology, entrepreneurship, and industrialization. The ability to produce isoprenoids profitably in E. coli represents a breakthrough with immense industrial and environmental potential,” added Falk Haurenherm from another.vc.
