ZenoTech Secures Over RMB 10 Million in Angel Funding to Advance Commercialization of Synthetic Biology Products

VCBeat (WeChat: vcbeat) has learned that Zenotech, a technology company focused on developing high-value-added natural products using synthetic biology and fermentation engineering technologies, has completed an angel financing round of over RMB 10 million. The investment was jointly made by Jiacheng Capital, CITIC Venture Capital Fund under CITIC Capital, and Yan Zhao, co-founder of Mininglamp Technology. Yuanhe Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor.

Zenotech leverages metabolic pathway design combined with next-generation gene editing technologies to perform targeted genetic engineering of chassis microorganisms such as Escherichia coli and yeast. The company has established a high-throughput screening platform to select industrial-grade, stable, and high-yield strains through scaled iterative screening. By integrating downstream processes such as fermentation and separation for industrial scale-up, Zenotech ultimately achieves large-scale commercial production with low costs and high efficiency. Currently, multiple product pipelines under development at Zenotech are approaching mass production, with an estimated annual production capacity exceeding 10 tons.

Zeno Tech was founded in 2021. After two years of technological breakthroughs, the company’s first product, 2’-Fucosyllactose (2’-FL), has achieved high-yield fermentation production under 1,000-liter fermenter conditions, with all physicochemical indicators meeting EU standards. The company is poised to become the first Chinese enterprise to achieve large-scale commercial mass production of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs). 2’-Fucosyllactose is the most abundant component among HMOs. Human milk oligosaccharides are important substances found in human colostrum, with concentrations ranging from 6 to 15 g/L. They play a crucial role in establishing infant gut microbiota, enhancing immunity, and supporting cognitive development, which is why they are used as additives in infant formula in Europe and the United States. Furthermore, recent studies have indicated that HMOs also benefit adult health, expanding their potential applications to fortified foods and foods for special medical purposes (FSMP).

Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are a novel class of nutritional fortifiers. They were first approved by the European Union for inclusion in its Novel Food Catalogue in 2017. Currently, production technologies are predominantly monopolized by large Western chemical corporations such as DSM, BASF, and DowDuPont. HMOs have not yet been approved by China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the National Health Commission. Moreover, research on HMOs in China started relatively late, and there are few domestic enterprises focused on HMO-related research. Zenotech is one of the few Chinese companies that possess independent intellectual property rights for HMO production technologies. It is reported that in October 2021, the China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment completed the safety and necessity evaluation for 2’-fucosyllactose (2’-FL), a type of HMO, and began soliciting public comments. Approval is expected within the next one to two years.

The reason Zeno Technology can rapidly achieve commercial-scale mass production lies in the company’s strong emphasis on coordinated advancement across the entire industry chain. In a narrow sense, synthetic biology focuses more on the engineering design of chassis microorganisms to obtain high-yield, stable strains. However, to develop mature, commercially viable products, downstream processes—including fermentation, scale-up, and separation and purification—must be comprehensively considered. Moreover, the entire production system exhibits a pronounced “bucket effect,” where any weakness in even a single detail can lead to the failure of the entire project. Therefore, Zeno Technology places significant importance on industrialization experience when staffing its R&D team, including fermentation engineers with over ten years of work experience at other publicly listed companies.

Dr. Zhu Tianze, founder of Zenotech, has nearly a decade of research experience in the field of synthetic biology. He received his bachelor’s degree from the School of Life Sciences at Peking University in 2012, where his research focused on developing engineered Escherichia coli-based biosensors for gold ions using synthetic biology techniques. He subsequently pursued his doctoral studies at the University of Oxford in the UK, specializing in carbohydrate chemistry and biocatalysis. During this period, he participated in a major project funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) on biocatalysis based on cofactor regeneration, and developed a series of foundational technological platforms for the biosynthesis of terpenoids. Meanwhile, Zenotech places strong emphasis on collaboration with academic institutions. The company has established close scientific research partnerships with universities such as Beijing University of Chemical Technology (BUCT), leveraging their extensive expertise in scale-up and industrialization to facilitate product commercialization.

In terms of market strategy, Zeno Technology has built a highly effective sales team and designed a comprehensive, multi-dimensional marketing system tailored to the characteristics of its products. The company has clearly defined its current focus on B2B sales. Given the current overall market landscape for human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), Zeno Technology is initially collaborating with consumer goods companies to promote the application of HMOs in functional foods. Furthermore, as infant formula manufacturers represent the primary customer base for HMOs, Zeno Technology is actively engaging with leading domestic infant formula companies to lay the groundwork for large-scale adoption in China once regulatory approvals are obtained. In other areas, Zeno Technology is also partnering with universities, research institutes, and enterprises to jointly explore and develop applications of HMOs in additional fields.

Meanwhile, Zeno Tech is actively expanding its other product pipelines. A major advantage of synthetic biology lies in its engineered technical characteristics, which can be replicated across multiple product lines, thereby saving capital and time costs in research and development. In selecting its R&D pipeline, Zeno Tech insists on identifying emerging products with high added value and high technical barriers to establish its own brand identity. Another product from Zeno Tech nearing commercialization is microbe-based natural pigments, applicable in fields such as textile printing and dyeing. It is understood that there are currently no companies in China focused on producing materials for the fashion and apparel sector through synthetic biology methods. Traditional pigments are mostly produced using chemical processes, which often entail high energy consumption, high carbon emissions, and significant pollution. The microbe-based natural dyes produced by Zeno Tech via synthetic biology not only overcome these drawbacks but also offer unique advantages such as strong biocompatibility. Furthermore, Zeno Tech has developed a unique pathway utilizing industrial wastewater for fermentation, further achieving energy conservation and emission reduction. Based on this achievement, it won third place in the “2nd Kering Sustainable Innovation Award” hosted by the French luxury group Kering. Following the award, leveraging the resource network provided by Kering, Zeno Tech is further promoting its innovative processes and technologies within the industry.

Zeno Technology has established its presence at the Suzhou Institute of Molecular Engineering (South Jiangsu), Peking University, leveraging Peking University’s robust R&D capabilities to advance multiple development pipelines. Meanwhile, Zeno Technology has been recognized as a leading enterprise under Suzhou’s “Kuncheng Talents” program and has secured millions of yuan in financial support from local government authorities. Additionally, Zeno Technology operates a 1,000-square-meter R&D center and pilot-scale production facility at the Daxing Biomedical Industrial Base in Beijing.

In the future, Zeno Tech will focus on process iteration and capacity expansion for its existing products, while also expanding their application scenarios based on its current customer base to achieve diversified corporate development.