Deinove receives €6 million in funding from the French state innovation agency OSEO
Deinove, a biotech start-up dedicated to the research and development of processes for biofuel production, announced that it has been awarded €6 million in funding by the French state innovation agency OSEO (Strategic Industrial Innovation program) as part of the DEINOL project.
The other partners in the Deinove-led project are a European leader in ethanol production and two academic labs, the CPBS (CNRS/University of Montpellier 1) and the LISBP (INSA Toulouse/CNRS/INRA). The goal of the €21.4 million DEINOL project is to open up (by 2014) new pathways for lignocellulosic ("second-generation") ethanol production in existing industrial installations and without the need for massive additional investment.
Deinove's approach is based on exploitation of Deinococcus bacteria, which have exceptional resistance and the ability to digest and ferment biomass. The company's approach breaks with the paradigm based on production of alcohol by S. cerevisiae (brewer's yeast) and is introducing this new family of micro-organisms into an industrial environment. The Deinococci are poised to deliver major technological advances in the production of biofuels and valuable industrial compounds. OSEO has awarded €8.9 million to the DEINOL project, which costs a total €21.4 million: €6 million will go to Deinove.
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