French VCs invest €12m in Fermentalg

State-backed BPI France contributed €4.6m via the €150m Ecotechnologies fund. BPI, IRDI and Viveris were newcomers in this third round of funding, which also included previous backers Emertec Gestion, Demeter Partners and Ace Management.

The fresh funds will be used to bring the production processes to an industrial scale in order to bring Fermentalg's solutions to market.

Previous funding
A consortium of investors led by Demeter provided Fermentalg with a €5.3m round of funding in April 2011. Demeter invested via the €203m Demeter 2 FCPR vehicle. The venture house contributed around half of the round and was joined by Ace Management. Existing investor Emertec also took part in the transaction.

In March 2009, Emertec, CEA Investissement and Aquitaine Creation – along with private investor Picoty – participated in a $2.87m seed funding round for the business.

Company
Founded in 2009, Fermentalg is a biotechnology start-up specialising in the research and production of micro-algae. Its products are designed for applications in healthcare and cosmetics, as well as the agrofood and biofuel industries. The Libourne-based company currently employs in excess of 30 staff.

People
Gilles Schang represented BPI France on the transaction. IRDI and Viveris were represented by Séverine Taillades and Marc Villecroze respectively. Pierre Calleja is the founder and CEO of Fermentalg.

Advisers
Equity – Jones Day, Renaud Bonnet, Jean-Gabriel Griboul (Legal); Grant Thornton, Thierry Dartus (Financial due diligence).
Company – Brunswick & Associés, Philippe Beauregard (Legal); Aelios Finance, Eric Felix-Faure (Corporate finance).

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• Topics
• France
• Healthcare
• Early-stage
• France
• Demeter Partners
• ACE Management