International law firm Bird & Bird has advised AFYREN, a greentech company that provides bio-based and low-carbon products to industrial clients, on a €23m capital increase fully subscribed by Kemin Industries, a major player in speciality ingredients and biotechnology, and Bpifrance, through its Large Venture fund.
Founded in 2012, AFYREN aims to provide innovative and sustainable solutions to reduce dependence on fossil resources. The greentech company uses local biomass from non-food agricultural by-products to produce 100% bio-based and low-carbon carboxylic acids through its proprietary fermentation technology inspired by nature and based on a fully circular model. The company's sustainable solutions address decarbonisation challenges across a wide range of strategic sectors, including human and animal nutrition, flavours and fragrances, life sciences, materials science, as well as lubricants and technical fluids.
This fundraising will enable an industrial investment of around twenty million euros in AFYREN NEOXY, the company's first biorefinery located in the Grand-Est region and developed as a joint venture with Bpifrance's SPI fund. This investment will consolidate current operations and increase production capacity to approximately 20 kilotonnes, representing an increase of more than 20% compared to the initially planned 16 kilotonnes, in order to meet growing commercial demand whilst improving the plant's financial equation.
Driven by a shared commitment to deploy this innovative technology on an industrial scale, the partnership between AFYREN and Kemin Industries dates back to 2018. This financial contribution from Kemin Industries will enable AFYREN to strengthen its position as a leading European producer of bio-based molecules, whilst accelerating its research programmes on new derivatives and its international development.
Bird & Bird advised AFYREN with a team composed of partner Olivier Peronnau, and associate Céline Sol.
