NATURAL
COLORS
FOR A
BETTER
WORLD
INTRODUCTION
Chromologics is a Danish biotech spin-out from the Technical University of Denmark. We have developed a fungal biotech platform for the production of novel, natural colorants.
Our proprietary fermentation process allows us to be first movers to introduce lab-grown food colorants to the market.
Our production is sustainable, scalable and cost-competitive. Unlike other existing natural colors, our colorants are not extracted from high value raw materials like fruit and vegetables, but produced by our wild type cell factory.
Our fungal strains are non-GMO and our pigments are compatible with most dietary needs, including kosher, halal, and vegan diets.
Sustainable colors made by nature.
CHROMORED
ChromoRed is the first in a new generation of colorants. It is the food colorant of the future. ChromoRed is novel and unique. ChromoRed is natural. It will replace current natural red food colorants like carmine and betanin.
ChromoRed performs excellent over a broad range of pH values and under high temperature treatment. By using ChromoRed, there is no consumer restriction as our colorant is compatible with vegan, kosher and halal diets.
By using ChromoRed, your food product will look appealing every step of the way while helping for a more sustainable future. ChromoRed is produced by biotech. Unlike other natural colorants, the production of ChromoRed is independent of harvest seasons.
Due to its high color intensity, ChromoRed has a lower cost-in-use than carmine and betanin.
CHROMOLOGICS OPERATIONAL TEAM
CAREER
Look at our LinkedIn profile for open positions
INVESTMENTS
Second Closing Series Seed
Copenhagen, Denmark, 27th of May 2021
Chromologics successfully completes their € 6M seed round financing.
Chromologics is developing a bio-based portfolio of natural colorants via a fungal biotech platform for the food market, tapping into a € 4.6B market opportunity.
The company received an additional € 4M from Blue Horizon Ventures, Novo Seeds, Nordic Food Tech, and angel investor Giampaolo Cagnin. The total seed round, which also included Vækstfonden, was € 6M.
Chromologics was founded in 2017 as a spin-out from the Technical University of Denmark. Since closing their initial seed round in July 2020, they have expanded the team, improved their production yields, engaged with customers, and initiated the regulatory approval of their flagship product, a natural red food color. This new investment not only strengthens the company’s initial strategic vision, but also allows Chromologics to explore and expand the portfolio to address other market segments.
The market for food coloring has continuously moved from synthetic to natural solutions over the last decade. Two main challenges for the natural colorants include compliance with veganism and, crucially, temperature stability to accommodate food manufacturing processes.
Chromologics’ platform sets a new benchmark for food colorant production.
It supports the transition from the input-intensive and wasteful use of food resources towards sustainable, laboratory-grown food colorants. Instead of exploiting high-value crops and insects to extract natural colorants, Chromologics’ natural colorants are produced using precision fermentation. Chromologics is thus freeing up arable land for other crucial foods and decreasing the use of pesticides and fertilizers.
Chromologics is actively forming partnerships and collaborations with food manufacturers, especially those working on new plant-based meat products, to test and evaluate the Chromologics’ natural red colorant solution.
Gerit Tolborg / CEO Chromologics
“I am proud to be CEO and co-founder of Chromologics, and proud to be among the few female CEO’s of tech start-ups. Our journey of successfully translating academic science into a commercial product is just beginning. Our ambition is to grow Chromologics into the market leader of fermented natural color solutions, and at the same time be an inspiration for other female scientists to follow suit.”
Thomas Grotkjær / Novo Seeds
“The extended seed round with participation of new European investors with strong domain expertise is a clear sign of the momentum of Chromologics. I believe that Chromologics has the potential to drive a significant change in how we think about natural colors.“
Regina Hecker / Blue Horizon Ventures
“What the Chromologics team is doing is absolutely fascinating. Their technology has the potential to radically transform the global color industry as it opens the door for nature-based, safe and reliable colors to the food and beverage industry that can be produced with far fewer resources. We are delighted to support them on this journey.”
Lauri Reuter / Nordic Food Tech VC “Chromologics has set a great example both in leveraging biology to solve a hard technical problem for better food and in turning excellent research into a fast-growing company. An absolute delight for an investor.”
About
The Founders
Gerit Tolborg and Anders Ødum met in 2016 at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), when they were both pursuing academic careers. After an exciting discovery of a novel group of fungal pigments during Gerit’s PhD, they founded Chromologics. Financed by several soft money grants from the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the Innovation Foundation Denmark, Gerit and Anders matured the technology of Chromologics to attract international venture capital.
Chromologics
Chromologics is a Danish biotech spin-out from the Technical University of Denmark, based in Copenhagen and founded in 2017. They have developed a fungal biotech platform to produce novel, natural colorants. Their proprietary fermentation process allows them to be first movers to introduce lab-grown food colorants to the market. Their production is sustainable, scalable, and cost-competitive. Their pigments are compatible with most dietary needs, including kosher, halal, and vegan diets.
Blue Horizon Ventures
Blue Horizon Ventures was founded in 2018, and, with €183M assets under its management, the fund aims to support the movement towards a more sustainable food system through innovation, technology and entrepreneurship. It puts special
focus on plant-based, cultured meat, synthetic biology, and sustainability. The underlying mission of the fund is to promote a positive global impact on the environment, human health, and animal welfare. The fund requires that all its portfolio companies contribute to the UN General Assembly’s Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. www.bluehorizonventures.com
Novo Seeds (Novo Holdings A/S)
Novo Seeds is the early-stage investment arm of Novo Holdings that focuses on the Nordics. Novo Holdings is recognized as a leading life science investor with a focus on creating long-term value. As a life sciences investor, Novo Holdings provides seed and venture capital to development-stage companies and takes significant ownership positions in growth and well-established companies. Novo Holdings also manages a broad portfolio of diversified financial assets. https://www.novoholdings.dk/
Nordic FoodTech VC
Nordic FoodTech VC invests in early stage Nordic and Baltic companies leveraging the best possible technologies to renew the food chain. The team has exceptionally diverse capabilities and networks, particularly in food technologies, and they bring solid experience in building and financing food companies, research and product development, and branding and marketing.
www.nft.vc
Vækstfonden
Vækstfonden is the investment fund of the Danish State. They strive to create growth and innovation in Danish companies and to expand the Danish capital ecosystem. Vækstfonden is deeply rooted in the Danish capital and business ecosystem. Through their large variety of financial products, they finance over 800 Danish companies annually, in all stages of their development and across industries. www.vaekstfonden.com
PRESS CONTACT
For more information and interview requests, please contact:
Gerit Tolborg
Email: gtolborg@chromologics.com
Phone: +45 61 60 32 09
High-resolution photographs are available for media use at Chromologics press kit section.
AWARDS
BIOTECHNOLOGY COMPANY OF THE YEAR - DENMARK 2020
NEWS
RECEIVES INNOBOOSTER GRANT TO ACCELERATE COMMERCIALIZATION
November 2020
Chromologics receives Innobooster Grant with the aim of accelerating commercialization of ChromoRed. This includes scaling to industrial size, initiation of regulatory approval and the creation of different formulations catering to the individual needs of the food companies.