Gent-based biosurfactants developer AmphiStar has secured €12.5 million in funding following the European Innovation Council’s (EIC) latest evaluation round, in order to speed up the production of sustainable microbial biosurfactants, upcycled from a bio-based waste feedstock, and ultimately bring them to market.
The blended funding takes the form of a €2.5 million grant and a €10 million equity investment. AmphiStar is one of 40 selected beneficiaries sharing nearly €230 million in support, all recognised for their innovative technologies with strong commercial potential.
AmphiStar CEO Pierre-Franck Valentin said: “This funding reflects the confidence that EIC has in AmphiStar’s ability to transform one of the key chemical markets. With growing consumer pressure on industry to offer less harmful products, the financial support ensures that we will continue to lead the way in replacing environmentally damaging synthetic surfactants with bio-based alternatives that retain functionality and performance while being kind to people and our wider ecosystem.”
Founded in 2021, AmphiStar is developing and producing 100% upcycled microbial biosurfactants, offering sustainable and performant alternatives to conventional surfactants.
Through its platform technology, AmphiStar aims to transform bio-based waste and side streams into a portfolio of high-performance biosurfactants that are independent of fossil feedstocks, palm feedstocks or direct land use – both sustainable and cost-effective.
AmphiStar leverages cutting-edge synthetic biology, microbial fermentation and mild processing techniques to produce eco-friendly alternatives to the non-sustainable surfactants on the market.
AmphiStar reportedly offers the first commercially available biosurfactants made entirely from biobased waste and side streams. Its synthetic biology platform is designed to enable the creation of molecules tailored to meet the performance and behaviour requirements of specific applications.
By upcycling bio-based waste and side streams as feedstocks for its fermentation process, AmphiStar offers a cleaner alternative to common synthetic surfactants. It also avoids the use of virgin crops such as palm oil or sugar as feedstock, whose cultivation is associated with deforestation and habitat loss while requiring extensive inputs of land, chemicals and fossil resources.
AmphiStar COO Sophie Roelants said: “This funding success enables us to take the next steps in AmphiStar’s journey to commercialisation. We now look forward not only to further scaling production of our commercially available products (AmphiCare and AmphiClean), but also to bringing a first novel biosurfactant from our biosurfactant platform technology to market while expanding our range of products beyond our current personal care and home care offerings.”
The new funding follows €12 million previously raised through CBE-JU projects (Waste2Func, SurfsUP), regional grants (VLAIO) and the support of the German SPRIN-D and Ghent based Biotope in addition to a pre-Series A funding round closed in 2024 by three VC funds (ECBF, Qbic, PMV).
The environmental sustainability of AmphiStar’s biosurfactants was confirmed by a recent Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) which demonstrated that their production results in a fourfold reduction in global warming potential compared to non-upcycled sophorolipids, a sixfold reduction compared to synthetic Sodium Laureth Sulfate, and a 9.5-fold reduction compared to Amine Oxides.
Additionally, they reportedly require significantly less water and land and have substantially decreased impacts on human health, ecosystem quality and resource availability.
In July 2024 AmphiStar released its first biosurfactant products for the home and personal care markets (AmphiClean and AmphiCare), and this year unveiled its growing library of over 80 biosurfactant molecules, suitable for a wide variety of applications.
AmphiStar built on these successes by signing a strategic agreement with Illinois-based surfactant manufacturer Kensing to bring its biosurfactants and production technology to the North American market and is finalising agreements with European counterparts.
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2025/07/belgian-biotech-developer-amphistar-secures-e12-5-million-for-clean-biosurfactants/