Emertec et al. invest €5m in Olygose

Ellie Pullen
05 January 2015

Tweet
Facebook
LinkedIn
Google plus
Send to

Emertec Gestion has taken part in a €5m funding round for Olygose, a French producer of plant-based ingredients for the food and drink industry.

Existing investor Emertec – which invested via its Emertec 4 fund – was joined in the round by new backers CapAgro and Vives Fund, as well as the company's existing angel investors and family office backers.

Vives invested via its Vives II – Louvain Technology Fund vehicle, which held its first close in September 2011 on €43m.

CapAgro led the round and invested via its CapAgro Innovation fund, a venture capital fund that held its first close on €37m in April 2014 and counts Tereos, Sofiprotéol, BPI France and Crédit Agricole as main investors.

Olygose will use the fresh capital to accelerate clinical trials. Its flagship product, AlphaGOS, was recently allowed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to advertise a health claim related to the reduction of the glycaemic response after a meal.

The company also plans on using the funds to increase its production capacity to several thousand tonnes per year, as well as bolster its international sales teams, particularly in north America and Asia.

The round marks Olygose's second funding round to date, the first having taken place in July 2013.

Company
Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Venette, Olygose is a specialist in natural ingredients derived from plants. The company employs 15 staff.

It extracts and purifies molecules from plants and is currently conducting clinical trials to attempt to demonstrate the benefits of this type of ingredient for certain food, drink and supplement sectors, such as weight management.

People
François Delbaere is the CEO of Olygose. Philippe Durieux is the CEO of the Vives II – Louvain Technology Fund vehicle. CapAgro general manager Jérôme Samson took a seat on Olygose's board of directors, joining existing board member Eric Marty of Emertec.

Advisers
Equity – Brunswick Avocats (Legal); Victor Avocats (Legal); Santarelli (IP due diligence); Adwelsen (Financial due diligence); Artorys (HR due diligence); Naturalpha (R&D due diligence).