Zeno Technology has completed an angel round of financing of over ten million yuan (over USD 1.6 million). The financing was jointly invested by Next Capital, CITIC Capital, and Yan Zhu, co-founder of Minglue Technology.
Zeno Technology is a developer of synthetic biology and fermentation engineering products. The company also uses new generation gene-editing technology such as “CRISPR-Cas9“ to genetically target E.coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and other microbial chassis, as well as industrializing the products of these strains through fermentation and isolation processes.
Currently, Zeno is developing human milk oligosaccharides, known as HMO, and natural pigments from microorganisms.
Human breast milk contains an average of 6-15g of oligosaccharides per liter, making HMOs the third most abundant solid component of breast milk after lactose and lipids. HMO promotes the development of the immune system, can reduce pathogen infections, and improve brain development and cognition. According to Allied Market Research, the HMO market in China is expected to reach USD 330 million by 2028.
However, HMO hasn’t gained regulatory approval from related authorities in China and is only used as an additive. The good news is that China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment has completed the demonstration of the safety and necessity of 2′-FL, the most abundant component in HMO.
In parallel, domestic startups have been preparing the necessary technology for a long time. For example, Zeno has built the capacity for large-scale production of HMO.
Another product Zeno is developing is natural pigments from microorganisms.
Pigments have become an essential part of our daily lives and have extensive applications in the textiles area. However, traditional pigments lead to high energy consumption, high emission, and high pollution and can sometimes pose a negative impact on human health. To meet those challenges, Zeno adopted fermentation treatment to reuse the colored wastewater. Microbial pigments made during the fermentation process are also more dynamic and cost-effective.
To make this product widely used, Zeno must address some challenges such as high production yields, reasonable production cost, regulatory approval, and stability of environmental factors such as temperature and light.
We will continue updating our readers about the tremendous developments in the fermentation segment and its major impact on almost every aspect of world economics.
