We’re excited to announce that we’re investing in Fermelanta!

Humans have effectively used natural compounds to realize healthier life and develop medicines. In particular, it is known that plants have acquired the ability to produce diverse and complex compounds (secondary metabolites) in the course of evolution through competition for survival. The isolation of morphine in Western medicine was the catalyst for the development of modern pharmacology, and valuable components of various herbal medicines are also utilized in Eastern medicine.

However, agricultural methods of production rely on unstable cultivation on an annual basis and require extraction of only a small amount of the constituents contained, thus presenting a significant barrier to the industrial production of plant-derived valuable ingredients. On the other hand, if such functional components can be fermented and produced by microorganisms using Fermelanta’s technology, scalable production and supply on a daily basis, independent of climate and growing region, will be possible.

Producing valuable plant ingredients by a designed and engineered cell factory

In 2008, Fermelanta’s research team succeeded in the world’s first microbial fermentation production of alkaloids, which are plant secondary metabolites. Since then, they have continued to accumulate research achievements, including the successful fermentation production of intermediates that served as platforms for various alkaloid compounds in 2011 and raw materials for WHO-designated essential medicines in 2016, from glucose, a simple biomass-derived material. In addition, from 2016 to 2020, they were selected for the “NEDO Smart Cell Project,” a project promoted by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) to develop production technologies for highly functional products using plants and other living organisms.

In collaboration with research groups in the information analysis field, they have established core technologies for the construction of highly engineered microbial strains that will serve as the foundation for biomanufacturing. In 2021, the company has been selected for the “Start-up Comprehensive Support Program (SBIR Support)” implemented by the Bio-oriented Technology Research Advancement Institution and has continued to engage in research and development as well as preparation for commercialization through social implementation. With the accumulation of more than 15 years of world-leading research results, they aim to supply plant secondary metabolites and other arbitrary compounds at high speed, high efficiency, and low cost.

Fermelanta’s technology is an integrated platform for the construction of artificial strains for industrial use with synthetic biology. Through the NEDO Smart Cell Project, their research team has successfully constructed an efficient modified biosynthetic pathway for plant secondary metabolites in microorganism by combining optimal biosynthetic genes from various species using information analysis technology. At the same time, they have established a multi-step gene transfer technology that enables the introduction and appropriate expression of an unprecedented number of more than 20 foreign genes into a single organism.

In addition, as a result of their research, they have established unique elemental technologies such as optimization of gene expression balance to improve the production efficiency of target substances and the creation of strains resistant to protein overexpression. These integrated fundamental technologies enable the establishment of more than 20 biosynthetic pathways in the cell and the practical fermentation production of target substances on a gram-per-liter scale. This yield makes it possible to supply raw materials for pharmaceuticals and health foods at a lower cost compared to traditional agricultural production methods.

Meet the team behind Fermelanta

The Ishikawa-based company, founded by an entrepreneur and two pioneers of metabolic engineering and synthetic biology in Japan, Shogo Fukizaki, Akira Nakagawa and Hiromichi Minami, looks to realize a scalable bacterial factory of valuable plant ingredients by synthetic biology approach. A noteworthy highlight is their integrated platform for the construction of artificial strains for industrial use with synthetic biology, enabling the establishment of more than 20 biosynthetic pathways in the cell and the practical fermentation production of target substances on a gram-per-liter scale.

We’re thrilled to be part of the round alongside other major investors, Beyond Next Ventures and Angel Bridge, and cannot wait to see what they will develop and deliver to the world. Welcome to the Plug and Play family!