Moutai Enters Synthetic Biology: Three Biomanufacturing Firms Secure Funding Within Three Days — Jinggou Bio, Tushen Zhihe, and Kangweijian

From9Month3Daily Arrival9Month5Day, with3One biomanufacturing company has completed its financing round, while another is currently advancing its fundraising efforts.

Recently, an emerging synthetic biology company—Hangzhou Jinggou Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Jinggou Biotech”) announced the completion of tens of millionsAround of financing.Led by Jinding Capital, with participation from renowned investors including Haibang Investment, Paradise Silicon Valley, and Daotong Investment, this round of financing will be primarily allocated to the company’s R&D efforts and the expansion of production capacity at its manufacturing bases.

AI+Protein Design Company Tushen Zhihe Completes Multi-Million RMB Angel Round+Round of financing, co-invested by Shanghai Angel Club, with follow-on investment from existing shareholder Chengmei Capital. This round of financing will further accelerate the industrial translation of the company's cutting-edge technologies.

Convigen Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Convigen”) has completedBRound of financing, wonPuhua CapitalOther investors in this round include Delian Capital, CDH Investments, Orient Fortune, and Kweichow Moutai. The funding will support the expansion of production capacity and the optimization of R&D, while also accelerating the commercialization of products.

Additionally, according to information from CCTV.com, sources close to the transaction revealed thatRecently, Mengniu Group's controlled synthetic biology enterpriseIris BioActively advancingARound of Financing, with a significant increase in valuation compared to the previous round, and multiple investment institutions have entered the substantive due diligence phase.

2024Year5In [Month], Hongmo Bio successfully completed a financing round of nearly RMB 100 million.Pre-Around of financing, led by a well-known investment institutionCICC CapitalLed by CICC Qide Fund, with Moutai Fund participating in the follow-on investment. The funds were primarily allocated to new product R&D, laboratory construction, industrialization, and commercialization efforts.

The aforementioned companies advancing their financing efforts share certain commonalities,On the one hand, both are based on their own synthetic biology technology platforms.

Among them, Jinggou Bio was established in2023Year7By [Month], we had established and completed the “Five Major” R&D platforms—strain engineering, fermentation, separation, analysis, and pilot-scale production—thereby possessing full-process product development capabilities from strain construction to product manufacturing.

Kangweijian was established in2019Year, is a national high-tech enterprise located in Huizhou City, Guangdong Province. Kangweijian has become a global leader in the enzymatic production of biological products by virtue of its independently developed "ester enzymatic synthesis technology platform."Ascorbyl Palmitate（AP) leading enterprise in the field.

From the perspective of these two companies, large-scale mass production appears to be an essential feature of synthetic biology technology platforms.

Leveraging its robust industrialization capabilities, Jinggou Bio has currently achievedL-Citrulline, VitaminsK2、L-Arginine,L-Tryptophan andL-Large-scale mass production of astaxanthin and other products has been achieved, with sales already established among leading downstream enterprises.

Kangweijian's core technology platform enables fully green and environmentally friendly production across the entire process, with3000ton/annual design capacity, with the first phase of its Huizhou production base already achieving an annual output of1200tons, with globally leading scale in bio-enzymatic methodsAPProduction line.

PreviouslyVCBeatYes2025Year1-8Monthly27Statistics on financing rounds reveal that, among them,13The use of funds raised is related to the expansion of production capacity and pilot-scale construction. For example, financing exceeding5Readlin, which raised hundreds of millions of yuan, will primarily allocate the funds to capacity expansion and new product R&D; Yixi Biotech, which secured nearly RMB 200 million in financing, will mainly use the proceeds to build the world’s largestHMOsstandalone factories, etc.

This characteristic stems primarily from the fact that the key advantage of biomanufacturing lies in cost reduction, a benefit that can only be fully realized through large-scale production, with pilot-scale trials being one of the critical steps to achieving such scale.

In addition to the aforementioned two companies, Tushen Zhihe primarily focuses onAI Agent Platform for Biopharmaceuticals, driving the realization of intelligent and automated antibody design. Tushen Zhihe has developed a multimodal large model+Vertical Model+An integrated platform for the entire wet and dry lab workflow, significantly shortening the design cycle and improving efficiency for new products.

It is understood that globallyAI+The market size for new drug development continues to grow, and it is expected that2034will reach by the year164.9hundred million USD. As of2024In recent years, the average R&D cost for new drugs has reached as high as24hundred million U.S. dollars, of which the average preclinical R&D cost is11hundred million U.S. dollars, traditional drug R&D is facing pain points such as high costs, long development cycles, and low success rates.

In addition to their technical platforms, another major characteristic of the aforementioned companies is thatWith the exception of Tushen Zhihe, the other three biomanufacturing companies are all focused on the food sector.

Jinggou Bio's products includeL-Citrulline, VitaminsK2、L-Arginine,L-Tryptophan andL-Astaxanthin, etc.

Kangweijian’s core product is enzymatically produced ascorbyl palmitate, an antioxidant permitted for use in food categories such as fats, oils, emulsified fat products, and convenient rice and flour products.2025Year7In [Month], the National Health Commission expanded its scope of use to include infant formula and complementary foods for infants and young children, to delay food oxidation.

Hongmo Biotech's core product is human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs），2023Year10MonthHMOsOfficially approved by the state, Hongmo Biology has become the only Chinese domestic enterprise on the list, emerging as an industry “dark horse.”

Biomanufacturing holds significant application potential in the food sector.

According to Li Yu, Chief Engineer of the China National Food Industry Association, first-generation biotechnology, represented by traditional fermentation and brewing, has brought us delicacies such as fine wine, ham, steamed buns, flatbreads, soybean paste, aged vinegar, and stinky tofu. These foods have not only enriched our dining tables but also embody thousands of years of history and culture.

In Li Yu’s view, with the advancement of genetic engineering technologies, synthetic biology will have a broad and profound impact on the food industry. By engineering microorganisms and constructing biological systems, it is possible to produce ingredients with specific health benefits, providing consumers with functional foods; optimize fermentation strains to enhance product quality; inhibit pathogenic microorganisms and reduce harmful metabolites, thereby improving food safety; and convert food by-products into high-value-added products, promoting the development of a circular economy.