Chromologics Announces Seed Round Led by Novo Holdings and Supported by Vækstfonden and Nordic FoodTech VC

- Funding Enables Accelerated Development of Fermentation-Derived Next Generation Food Colorants

- Flagship Product Targeting 2$ Billion Market Opportunity for the Food Industry

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Sept. 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Chromologics, which is developing innovative natural food colorants, today announces it has raised €1.9 M in seed financing led by Novo Seeds and supported by Nordic FoodTech VC and Vækstfonden. Chromologics just recently won the Business Acceleration Academy Award from the BioInnovation Institute in Denmark.

Chromologics, a spin-out from the Technical University of Denmark, is set to change how natural colorants are produced. The company has developed a fermentation-based color platform for production of ChromoColors, its high-performing and sustainable food colorants. The funds will enable Chromologics to accelerate the development and regulatory approval of ChromoRed, its flagship food colorant.

ChromoRed has the potential to be the first natural colorant that is exclusively produced by sustainable fermentation processes, instead of being extracted from plants or animals. Consumer awareness over food ingredients, the rise in veganism and the importance of more sustainable eating habits, has led to a re-evaluation of food manufacturing. ChromoRed is targeting a very significant market opportunity in excess of $2 billion, in an area of high consumer and industry demand. ChromoRed's unique performance has been validated by leading players in the industry, and Chromologics is in ongoing discussions with a number of commercial partners to expand the collaboration.

Gerit Tolborg, Chief Executive Officer of Chromologics, said: "We are very pleased to welcome these strong and experienced investors to Chromologics. Their support provides validation for our strategy to develop better and more sustainable food colorants. They recognize the extraordinary economic opportunity in introducing lab-grown food colorants to the market at a time where alternative meats and food safety is a high consumer demand. This investment will allow us to accelerate the development of our flagship product ChromoRed and maximize the potential of our platform as we develop food colorants that meet the needs of industry and consumers."

Thomas Grotkjær, Principal at Novo Seeds, added: "Our mission at Novo Seeds is to identify disruptive technologies, enable entrepreneurs to build companies and bring them to real inflection points. Chromologics has an excellent team which has developed a truly innovative platform with the potential to transform how natural colorants are developed. There is enormous demand from industry and consumers for these high quality and sustainable products and we have already had significant commercial interest from partners."

Thomas Grotkjær, Principal at Novo Seeds, and Lauri Reuter, Founding Partner at Nordic FoodTech VC, have joined the Chromologics Board.

About Chromologics

Chromologics is a spin-out from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and was founded in 2017. Chromologics aims to change the natural color industry with innovative next generation food colors.  Chromologics has developed a biotechnological color platform to introduce high-performing biobased food colorants to the market.

ChromoRed is a fermentation-derived natural colorant which has optimal pH-and temperature stability, allowing it to be used in a variety of different food products. As a lab-produced colorant, ChromoRed is also more sustainable than currently approved natural red colorants which require intensive farming. Unlike other existing natural colors, Chromologics' colorants are not extracted from high value raw materials like fruit and vegetables, but produced in a sustainable, scalable and cost-competitive process.

Find out more at Chromologics.com, Instagram and LinkedIn.

About Novo Holdings

Novo Seeds is the early stage investment arm of Novo Holdings. Novo Holdings A/S is a Danish private limited liability company wholly owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. It is the holding company of the Novo Group, comprising Novo Nordisk A/S, Novozymes A/S and NNIT A/S, and manages the Foundation's assets.

In addition to being the major shareholder in the Novo Group companies, Novo Holdings provides seed and venture capital to development-stage companies, takes significant ownership positions in well-established companies within life science and manages a broad portfolio of financial assets.

It is the vision of Novo Holdings to be recognized as a world-leading life science investor with a focus on creating long-term value. Read more at www.novoholdings.dk.

About Vækstfonden

In close collaboration with banks and domestic and international private investors, we discover and develop the companies that Denmark cannot afford to miss out on. We carry the experience and the expertise that make businesses grow – from digitalizing a carpenter's business in small town Sallingsund to the launching of a robotic arm in Silicon Valley. The power of innovation, yield to society and responsibility are the three signposts that guide us in finding and choosing new projects. Since 1992, Vaekstfonden has co-financed growth in over 8,500 companies for a total commitment of more than €3.7 B. Read more at https://vaekstfonden.com/.

About Nordic FoodTech VC

Nordic FoodTech VC is the first venture capital fund in the Nordics investing explicitly in the future of food. The fund invests in bold, early stage Nordic and Baltic tech companies that are creating a more sustainable and healthy global food system. Read more at www.nft.vc