Chromologics has raised €1.9 million (US$2.27 million) in seed financing led by Novo Seeds and supported by Nordic FoodTech VC and Vækstfonden. The company creates lab-grown natural colorants without the use of plants or animals. The funds will enable Chromologics to accelerate the development and regulatory approval of ChromoRed, its flagship food colorant, which is targeting a US$2 billion market for industry.

The company, a spin-off from the Technical University of Denmark, has developed a fermentation-based color platform for the production of ChromoColors, its high-performing and sustainable food colorants, and it recently won the Business Acceleration Academy Award from the BioInnovation Institute in Denmark.

“We are 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,” says Gerit Tolborg, CEO of Chromologics. 

“They recognize the extraordinary economic opportunity in introducing lab-grown food colorants to the market at a time wher 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 our platform’s potential as we develop food colorants that meet the needs of industry and consumers,” Toldborg notes. 

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 have led to a re-evaluation of food manufacturing. 

ChromoRed is targeting a very significant market opportunity over US$2 billion, in an area of high consumer and industry demand. Leading players in the industry have validated ChromoRed’s unique performance and Chromologics is in ongoing discussions with several commercial partners to expand the collaboration.