Growth capital for innovative bio-based ingredients
NBank Capital acquires a stake in Lignopure GmbH
Lignopure GmbH is a pioneer in the utilization of Lignin as a sustainable ingredient in high-quality applications such as home care products. It has now raised a further 2.4 million euros in equity capital. NBank Capital Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH leads the current financing round. Other investors include Niedersachsen Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG (a fund of NiedersachsenMetall), a team of business angels (RaakWaark Kaptaal), a family office and existing shareholders.
Daniela Arango, Joana Gil Chavez, Wienke Reynolds – Lignopure founders (from left to right).
Lignopure GmbH
“We are very pleased with the trust of our investors. This financing allows us to strengthen the company’s global presence, lay the foundation for global production with international biorefineries and further expand our product portfolio. With this funding, we are taking a significant step closer to our mission to decarbonize the chemical industry and make lignin a real alternative to harmful ingredients.”
Lignopure is a company dedicated to the sustainable conversion and recycling of lignin, a natural polymer found in plants as a bio-based raw material and alternative to fossil chemicals such as microplastics. By developing innovative lignin-based ingredients and collaborating with biorefineries, Lignopure aims to create sustainable alternatives to harmful ingredients in the chemical industry. Processed lignin is not only used in the cosmetics sector but also creates the basis for a broad introduction of lignin in various industrial applications such as the field of dietary supplements or the production of vegan leather.
“Lignopure is a young company that has inspired and impressed us with its technology and the spirit of the founders. With their professionalism and strategic orientation, the founders manage to inspire customers and investors. We are very much looking forward to a good and successful cooperation! In line with our portfolio strategy, we want to actively support the transformation away from fossil fuels and microplastics to bio-based raw materials", Viktoria Vorwachs, responsible investment manager at NBank Capital.
Lignopure was founded in 2019 by the three engineers as a science spin-off of the Hamburg University of Technology. In the meantime, there is also a production facility in Buxtehude. As a result of an initial round of financing, the first product, “LignoBase”, was developed to market maturity in 2023 as the first multifunctional lignin-based ingredient for the cosmetics sector. “LignoBase” can, for example, replace harmful ingredients in sunscreens with the same protection. As early as 2022, Lignopure commissioned the first GMP-compliant plant for lignin conversion, achieving the ability to recycle 90,000 kilograms of lignin annually.
“As early as April 2019, when Lignopure took second place in the first Future Hamburg Award and I sat on the jury there, the team convinced me with its sustainable and internationally oriented business model. That’s why I’m particularly pleased that my fishing colleagues and I can accompany the team together”, Matthias Grychta, angel investor of Raakwark Kaptaal.
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