ADM invests in venture capital fund specialised in microbiome

ADM Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of ADM, has invested in Seventure’s Health For Life Capital (HFLC) Fund II.

Based in Paris, HFLC is a venture capital fund dedicated to health, nutrition, microbiota and digital health.

ADM says that its interest in the microbiome focuses on the complex bacterial ecosystem that lives within the digestive tract.

“With a better understanding of how the microbiome ecosystem works, we can develop functional ingredients for dietary supplements and food and beverage solutions targeted to help improve overall health,” said Darren Streiler, managing director of ADM Ventures.

“We are focused on looking at new, innovative solutions that can lead to a more balanced bacterial system in your digestive tract, otherwise known as a healthy gut, and can help lead to better health.”

Seventure has previously invested in companies including functional ingredients producer MycoTechnology and self-cleaning water bottle creator, Larq, as well as a host of companies in the microbiome category.

“We view Seventure as the premier investor in microbiome start-ups focused on human health and nutrition, and since 2018, ADM has worked closely with the Seventure team to identify opportunities with microbiome solutions that can ultimately help with dietary supplements and food and beverage applications to serve as functional or proactive solutions,” said  Streiler.

“We believe Seventure can help meet the long-term demand we see as the result of the convergence of food and pharmaceuticals and consumers looking more towards bioactives and nutrition for wellness solutions.”

As part of its focus on nutritional ingredients, ADM has recently unveiled plans for a new probiotics production facility in Valencia, Spain.

The expansion project represents a five-fold increase in probiotics production capacity through ADM Biopolis.

The facility, which will produce microbiome solutions targeting areas including weight management, skin health, immune health and gut health, is planned to be online in 2022.