Through its participation in BIOWEGâs Series A roundâled by Axeleo Capital and joined by EIC Fund, NBank Capital, and seed investor Dr.-Ing. Frank JennerâBONVENTURE is supporting the companyâs move into industrial production: A bacterial cellulose plant is being built in Germany that will provide European manufacturers with fast and compliant alternatives to microplastics.
London (UK) & QuakenbrĂŒck (DE), September 16, 2025 â BONVENTURE is supporting BIOWEGâs Series A funding round of 16 million euros. The German biotech company develops high-performance, biodegradable ingredients as alternatives to intentionally added, acrylic polymer-based microplastics.
Nikolaj Klebert, Investment Director at BONVENTURE, says:
âBIOWEG combines technological excellence with significant impact. Its international, diverse team embodies inclusion in the deep tech sector and is driving Europeâs transition toward a microplastic-free future. We are excited to play an active role as an investor in shaping this move toward industrial scaling.â
Wirkung, die skaliert
BIOWEG uses byproducts from the food industry to âfeedâ specialized microorganisms. These microorganisms produce bacterial celluloseâa natural material that BIOWEG processes using green chemistry so that it can directly replace microplastics in products such as cosmetics, cleaning agents, and seed coatings. The result is high-performance, biodegradable ingredients that can be easily integrated into existing formulationsâall manufactured in the EU.
Since its founding in 2019 by Dr. Prateek Mahalwar and Srinivas Karuturi, BIOWEG has been operating a pilot facility in QuakenbrĂŒck (with a capacity of up to six metric tons) as well as a materials science, formulation, and application laboratory in Monheim on the Bayer Crop Science campus. With this new round of funding, the total amount raised rises to âŹ22 million. The transition from pilot to industrial scale involves the construction of the German facility, which is designed to meet the growing demand for microplastic-free ingredients. The site is being built in close proximity to a major sugar producer to leverage raw material synergies and reduce operating costs. At the same time, BIOWEG is upgrading the pilot line in QuakenbrĂŒck, fulfilling short-term customer orders, and expanding its commercial, regulatory, and production engineering teams to drive expansion in the European market.
Regulatory Tailwind â Industrial Solution
The EU-wide ban on intentionally added fossil-based microplastics is changing supply chains for ingredients in the personal care, household products, pharmaceutical, and agricultural sectors. Manufacturers need compliant, high-performance ingredients that are available on a large scale in the EUâBIOWEGâs platform is designed precisely for this purpose and enables straightforward reformulation.
Dr. Prateek Mahalwar, Co-founder & CEO of BIOWEG, says:
âTodayâs funding enables us to move into industrial production and supports our customers in their transition away from microplastics. Our goal is to match and exceed the performance of conventional polymers using bio-based, biodegradable ingredients on a European scale.â
BIOWEGâs portfolio addresses priority applications: Micbeads (micropowders for leave-on cosmetics) provide biodegradable leave-on micropowders for cosmetics with high-quality sensory properties; RheoWeg (a bio-based rheology modifier as an acrylate substitute) offers a bio-based and biodegradable rheology modifier as a substitute for acrylate polymers in cosmetics, personal care, and household products; AgriWeg (coatings for controlled release) provides seed and fertilizer coatings for controlled release and improved handling. As production capacity in Germany ramps up, BIOWEG will focus on qualifying supplies for customers and supporting reformulation programs throughout Europe.