Bio-based products: bmh invests another 5 million euros in BRAIN Biotech

Wies­ba­den / Zwin­gen­berg — BRAIN Biotech AG, a company specia­li­zing in bio-based products and solu­ti­ons such as enzy­mes and prote­ins as well as biotech­no­lo­gi­cal solu­ti­ons for more sustainable indus­trial proces­ses, is recei­ving a further injec­tion of capi­tal: Betei­­li­­gungs-Mana­ge­­men­t­­ge­­sel­l­­schaft Hessen mbH (“bmh”) — which has alre­ady parti­ci­pa­ted in seve­ral finan­cing rounds for the company since 1996 — is now provi­ding a further EUR 5 million in capi­tal. BRAIN intends to conti­nue inves­t­ing in rese­arch and deve­lo­p­ment work as well as in labo­ra­tory and produc­tion facilities.

BRAIN Biotech AG (“BRAIN”) was foun­ded in 1993 in Zwin­gen­berg, Hesse, and was one of the pioneers in the field of indus­trial biotech­no­logy. Today, it is one of the leading Euro­pean compa­nies in the field of enzyme tech­no­logy, among others. Since its foun­da­tion, the company has deve­lo­ped from a service provi­der specia­li­zing in rese­arch and deve­lo­p­ment to a group of compa­nies with an exten­sive scien­ti­fic services and product busi­ness for the B2B market. BRAIN focu­ses on the areas of nutri­tion, health and the envi­ron­ment. The acti­vi­ties of the BRAIN Group, with a total of 330 employees, 120 of whom are based in Zwin­gen­berg, are divi­ded into three divi­si­ons: The BioIn­dus­trial divi­sion focu­ses on the product busi­ness, while the BioSci­ence divi­sion compri­ses the rese­arch and deve­lo­p­ment busi­ness on behalf of custo­mers. In the BioIn­cu­ba­tor segment, the company carries out its own R&D projects or those initia­ted with part­ners with high commer­cial potential.

Speci­fi­cally, bio-based products in the area of nutri­tion, for exam­ple, involve alter­na­tive protein and food sources based on micro­or­ga­nisms or cell cultures. In the health­care sector, BRAIN deve­lops phar­maceu­ti­cally active ingre­di­ents for the treat­ment of chro­nic wounds and rare dise­a­ses, among other things. BRAIN now covers the entire value chain for specialty enzy­mes — from deve­lo­p­ment to fermen­ta­tion and produc­tion on an indus­trial scale.

With the finan­cing round that has now been concluded, the company intends to further expand its rese­arch and deve­lo­p­ment acti­vi­ties. At the same time, BRAIN Biotech is plan­ning invest­ments in labo­ra­tory and rese­arch faci­li­ties at the Zwin­gen­berg site.

Michael Schnei­ders, CFO BRAIN Biotech AGsays: “We are deligh­ted with bmh’s contin­ued confi­dence in our busi­ness model and greatly appre­ciate the trus­ting and long-stan­­ding coope­ra­tion. We intend to use the funds from the current finan­cing round to make further future-orien­­ted invest­ments at our head­quar­ters in Hesse and thus further expand our leading posi­tion in the market.”

Helge Haase, respon­si­ble Invest­ment Mana­ger of bmhexplains: “We are convin­ced of the poten­tial of BRAIN Biotech AG, and have been for over 25 years. We look forward to support­ing the company’s trans­for­ma­tion from a successful rese­arch company to a fast-growing manu­fac­tu­ring company and to conti­nuing to accom­pany BRAIN Biotech AG on its growth path.”

About the bmh

bmh Betei­­li­­gungs-Mana­ge­­men­t­­ge­­sel­l­­schaft Hessen mbH, based in Wies­ba­den, was foun­ded in 2001 and is a wholly owned subsi­diary of Landes­bank Hessen-Thürin­­gen Giro­zen­trale (Helaba). Through the Wirt­­schafts- und Infra­struk­tur­bank Hessen (WIBank), bmh is actively invol­ved in the econo­mic deve­lo­p­ment of the state of Hesse. As a medium-sized invest­ment and venture capi­tal company, bmh bund­les public invest­ment inte­rests and finan­cing instru­ments for early-stage, growth and medium-sized compa­nies in Hesse. bmh curr­ently mana­ges six invest­ment funds with a total invest­ment volume of around 125 million euros. Since its foun­da­tion, bmh has inves­ted in a total of more than 500 compa­nies. The main areas of invest­ment include the soft­ware & IT, life scien­ces, mecha­ni­cal and plant engi­nee­ring, indus­trial goods, profes­sio­nal services and e‑commerce sectors. More infor­ma­tion about bmh and its funds: www.bmh-hessen.de