ADM Expands Microbial Science Capabilities with Acies Bio

The investment allows ADM to advance precision microbial fermentation projects by leveraging Acies Bio’s microbial capabilities.
The investment allows ADM to advance precision microbial fermentation projects by leveraging Acies Bio’s microbial capabilities.

ADM has announced that it is making an equity investment in Acies Bio, a Slovenia-based biotechnology company specializing in R&D and manufacturing services for developing and scaling synthetic biology and precision fermentation technologies for food, agriculture and industrial applications.

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The investment will help ADM advance projects in precision microbial fermentation by leveraging Acies Bio’s microbial capabilities and contract manufacturing services.

Founded in 2006, Acies Bio develops microbial and synthetic biology-based platforms and technologies and also offers contract R&D services in microbial strain engineering and fermentation for customers in key growth segments, including sustainable agriculture, functional foods and bio-based industrial chemicals.

ADM’s investment in Acies Bio is being made through ADM Ventures, the company’s corporate venture capital arm.

Ian Pinner, ADM chief strategy and innovation officer, said, “Microbial technology is unlocking disruptive opportunities in sustainable agriculture, sustainable materials and fuels, and alternative proteins. We’re propelling growth opportunities by working with innovators who appreciate our unique combination of expertise, capacity and access to feedstocks. Now, by investing to become a minority owner in Acies Bio, we’re opening up the door to new collaboration with an innovative, complementary business to meet the growing demand for products developed via microbial fermentation.”

Enej Kuščer, Acies Bio's co-founder and director, said, “Acies Bio’s core mission is to use the nearly unlimited power of microbial diversity to drive disruptive innovation and help create a more sustainable bio-based future. This strategic partnership with ADM will allow Acies Bio to expand and accelerate the development of our platform technologies, which aim to replace synthetic chemicals and the often carbon-intensive production currently used in food and agriculture with microbial, bio-based products.”

Štefan Fujs, Acies Bio's co-founder and director, said, “This investment from ADM will also allow Acies Bio to expand our infrastructure and increase the high-throughput capabilities of our SmartRoute platform, which will allow faster development of new technologies and products. This will speed up the internal pipeline and also help us deliver more quality services to our partners and collaborators.”

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