Debut – a vertically integrated synthetic biology company that unlocks a new generation of cosmetic bioactive ingredients using the most advanced biomanufacturing approaches – recently announced that it will develop bio-identical and novel fragrance molecules, having closed a total of $40 million in its Series B funding led by BOLD, the venture capital fund of L’Oréal. The financing will utilize Debut’s proprietary biomanufacturing platform to advance into the fragrance category and set up its biotech fragrance model as the preeminent benchmark in the fragrance industry.
Debut’s advanced biomanufacturing will enable fragrance brands to transition to bio-based formulas while protecting the olfactive integrity of their formulas. And Debut’s biotechnology can replicate the scent signature and precise characteristics of natural ingredients, including those that are structurally complex, difficult to source, and only exist in trace amounts in nature. Debut is also developing novel fragrance molecules, opening new creative possibilities for the fragrance industry.
Debut’s bio-identical ingredients are genetic facsimiles of molecules existing in nature. During the biomanufacturing process, the input is natural, the vehicle that makes the molecule is natural, and the end product – the ingredients are also natural. The molecules exude the same rich, full-bodied quality of naturals. Debut’s molecules are petrochemical-free as the product of biology (rather than chemical synthesis). And they are renewable and eliminate supply-chain variability.
Climate change is wreaking havoc with ingredient sourcing, quality, and price. And high temperatures, drought and unpredictable seasons are impacting crop and flower yields with devastating regularity. Even floral scent emission is compromised by global warming. Groundbreaking research from the Hebrew University at Jerusalem has also shown that there is a correlation between rising temperatures and decreased scent emission of flowers. In the European Union, natural ingredients are also at risk of regulation, threatening the industry at large.
Only Debut’s proprietary advanced biomanufacturing is able to solve these intractable problems by making natural ingredients that are not possible with fermentation or chemical synthesis. And with both a combination of cell and enzyme catalysis, Debut can create complex novel biomolecules with innovative and heightened performance.
KEY QUOTES:
“Having successfully scaled biotechnology with 100 percent success in skincare and leading that category, we are now addressing the urgent challenges facing the fragrance industry. Only Debut’s proprietary advanced biomanufacturing processes can reconcile two diametrically opposing needs: the innate consumer drive for naturalness and the unsustainable pressure on the planet’s dwindling natural resources.”
“Debut’s ability to manufacture natural, safe, and sustainable fragrance molecules at the highest standards of purity will safeguard the perfumer’s palette and halt the extraction of ingredients from the planet. We are already being approached by companies to create bio-identical molecules for existing fragrances and innovate novel fragrance molecules that will confer olfactive uniqueness to brands.”
“Advanced biomanufacturing is the game-changer that will protect and elevate perfumery. It creates a huge intellectual property moat that will redefine the art of perfumery in the coming decade.”
— Debut Founder and CEO Joshua Britton, Ph.D
