Hyfé’s $9 Million Seed Funding Brews Up a New Era In Biomanufacturing

In a bid to address some of the most pressing challenges in biomanufacturing, the startup Hyfé has closed an oversubscribed $9 million Seed investment round.

Hyfé’s Seed funding round was spearheaded by Synthesis Capital, with further participation from The Engine, Refactor Capital, Supply Change Capital, Overwater Ventures, X Factor Ventures, and Alumni Ventures. This new funding brings the company’s total investment to $11 million, which includes a similarly oversubscribed pre-seed round.

Hyfé plans to use the funds to advance select commercial partnerships, double its staff, and make strides toward pilot-scale technology demonstration. Rosie Wardle, co-founder and partner at Synthesis Capital, will join the company’s Board of Directors.

‘As pivotal as the invention of the steam engine’

“Biomanufacturing has the potential to solve some of the most pressing challenges facing humanity, but first it needs to be made economically viable,” Michelle Ruiz, co-founder and CEO of Hyfé said in a statement. “We are building a solution that addresses a fundamental bottleneck for the bioeconomy just as it’s reaching an inflection point. This historic moment is as pivotal as the invention of the steam engine, the age of science and mass production, and the rise of digital technology.”

Hyfé is uniquely positioned in the sector, leveraging its considerable experience in wastewater treatment and fermentation-enabled waste valorization to develop feedstocks from food processing wastewater.

This abundant and largely untapped source of carbon holds significant potential in the fight against climate change and resource management, providing an opportunity for food and beverage manufacturers to reduce wastewater treatment costs and improve water resilience. Biomanufacturers, on the other hand, gain access to more sustainable, affordable feedstocks.

Future feedstocks

The sector currently accounts for up to 1.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. By extracting nutrient building blocks from wastewater, Hyfé transforms them into easy-to-metabolize feedstocks, overcoming key hurdles in alternative feedstock development, such as compositional variability, availability, and lack of data.

“The future bioeconomy will be worth at least $4 trillion, and up to $30 trillion globally. We have a timely opportunity to propel this growth through the development of cost-efficient and sustainable feedstocks,” said Wardle.

“We’re thrilled to support Hyfé, a leader in the biomanufacturing revolution, in their next phase of growth, applying their technology to power the development of more sustainable products across sectors through bioproduction. This is something the world desperately needs to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, revitalize the manufacturing sector, strengthen our supply chains, and improve our health and environment.”