Guangdong Salt Industry Group Invests 100 Million Yuan, Betting on a Microalgae

VCBeat has learned that the microalgae-based biomanufacturing platform company Beijing Protoga Biotechnology Co., Ltd.(hereinafter referred to as "Protoga") has officially completed the Guangdong Salt Industry Group Exclusively Invested In RMB 100 million Series A+ round Financing. This round of financing will be primarily used for the construction of a standardized intelligent manufacturing base for Microalgal Extracellular Vesicles (MEVs), as well as for the research, development, and implementation of comprehensive solutions for sustainable microalgal protein across various application scenarios.

Founded in 2021, Protoga boasts a core team hailing from Tsinghua University. It is a rare platform enterprise in China that leverages microalgae as its core biological chassis, integrating the entire value chain from germplasm development and bioconversion to global regulatory compliance and supply chain access for leading brands. Currently, the global beauty and food industries are simultaneously facing structural bottlenecks in sustainable supply. The skincare sector has long relied on animal-derived active delivery carriers, which pose biosafety risks and ethical controversies, while high-end supporting resources have long been monopolized by overseas manufacturers. Amid continuous global population growth, the traditional livestock and soy protein industries are under increasing pressure due to water and land consumption and carbon emissions. There is an urgent global need for new, low-carbon, efficient, and scalable biological resource supply pathways. As a novel biological chassis with significant potential for sustainable development, microalgae offer innovative solutions for building a diversified food supply system and facilitating the sustainable transformation of the beauty industry.

Leveraging its proprietary and controllable microalgae germplasm bank and end-to-end biotransformation system, Protoga has developed tailored, comprehensive solutions for two major sectors: Non-animal-derived active delivery systems for the cosmetics sector; novel microalgae protein supply systems for the food industry. The platform’s industrialization capabilities have been recognized by leading global beauty groups, with the MEVs solution achieving exclusive supply chain implementation. Yellow Chlorella pyrenoidosa has successfully obtained national approval as a novel food ingredient, breaking through core regulatory barriers for the commercialization of novel plant-based proteins and providing a new practical pathway for the development of China’s diversified food supply system.

Behind this financing lies an increasingly clear judgment: The competition in biomanufacturing is shifting from technological validation to industrial-scale validation.

In recent years, a growing number of startups have demonstrated the technical feasibility of their laboratory-based technologies, with continuous proposals for new chassis cells, fermentation processes, and synthetic pathways. However, as the industry gradually moves toward commercialization, the focus of capital investment is shifting: priority is now given to those capable of scaling up manufacturing beyond the lab and truly integrating into supply chains, rather than merely staying at the stage of proof of concept.

Investment logic has consequently shifted. Rather than technological breakthroughs alone, regulatory approval capabilities, supply chain synergy, scalable manufacturing capacity, and commercialization prowess in serving leading clients are becoming key indicators for evaluating the long-term value of biomanufacturing enterprises.

This shift has also prompted an increasing number of investors with industrial backgrounds to enter the biomanufacturing sector. The frequent investments by local state-owned capital reflect industry investors’ new assessment of the competitive dynamics for the next phase of the sector’s development.

Against this backdrop, we are more concerned with another question than the amount of financing: why would a traditional salt industry group choose to invest in a startup engaged in microalgae biomanufacturing...

VCBeat interviewed Protoga regarding this round of financing and the company’s insights into biomanufacturing, the bioactive extracellular vesicle industry, and novel protein development. Xiao Yibo, Founder of Protoga held discussions.

VCBeat: First, congratulations to Protoga on securing financing! We are curious as to why Guangdong Salt Industry Group became an investor in this round.

Xiao Yibo: Guangdong Salt Industry Group is committed to Building a First-Class Provincial Food Technology Group, seeking new industrial growth points in areas such as food technology, bio-manufacturing, and modern agriculture. As a novel biological resource with both industrial-scale production capabilities and sustainable development potential, microalgae not only expand new sources of protein but also provide new technological pathways for building a diversified food supply system. Therefore, Protoga’s accumulated industrialization capabilities in the field of microalgal bio-manufacturing are highly aligned with Guangdong Salt Industry Group’s future industrial layout.

Furthermore, over the past five years since our inception, we have thoroughly validated our end-to-end capabilities—spanning germplasm R&D, industrial scale-up and implementation, qualification with top-tier clients, and global regulatory compliance—thereby becoming a core supplier of microalgae-based ingredients to leading global cosmetics groups. Our yellow Chlorella kessleri has also obtained national approval as a novel food ingredient. Meanwhile, focusing on two key directions—non-animal-derived active extracellular vesicles and novel sustainable proteins—we have built a comprehensive portfolio of solutions covering high-value cosmetic ingredients and mass-market health foods. I believe these tangible achievements in industrialization demonstrate a solid foundation for long-term, deep collaboration between both parties.

Signing Ceremony between Guangdong Salt Industry Group and Beijing Protoga Biotechnology

VCBeat: What does the investment from the Salt Industry Group mean for Protoga?

Xiao Yibo: I believe this is not merely a round of financing, but rather the formal entry of a deeply integrated, long-term industrial partner. For biomanufacturing platform companies, the greatest challenge in transitioning from laboratory achievements to large-scale industrial implementation has never been underlying R&D, but rather the establishment of standardized industrial support systems, validation in global markets, and the integration of cross-sector industrial resources. At this stage of development, what these enterprises need is not just capital, but also industrial investment capable of accompanying their long-term growth and facilitating access to physical industry channels.

Guangdong Salt Industry Group possesses precisely such industrial empowerment capabilities. On one hand, this round of funding will support the company in leaping from a laboratory-scale pilot system to standardized, large-scale intelligent manufacturing infrastructure. On the other hand, with years of deep cultivation in the food industry, Guangdong Salt has accumulated mature offline channels and resources in essential consumer food scenarios, which will help us accelerate the deployment of various solutions to the end-user market in the future.

More importantly, as a provincial state-owned enterprise in Guangdong, Guangyan Group’s strategic investment signifies a dual high-level endorsement by provincial industrial capital of both the long-term value of the microalgae bio-manufacturing sector and Protoga’s comprehensive capability to implement industrialization across its entire value chain. For platform-based enterprises still in their growth and expansion phase, recognition from state-owned industrial investors often holds value far beyond the capital itself.

VCBeat: How will the two parties carry out industrial synergy in the future?

Xiao Yibo: Guangdong Salt Industry Group will fully leverage its advantages in physical industrial resources to provide Protoga with comprehensive industrial empowerment, including end-user scenario integration, omnichannel expansion, and regional policy coordination. This will accelerate the large-scale implementation of Protoga’s complete suite of solutions in the local Guangdong market, while jointly advancing global business layout to bring more Chinese-made biomanufacturing solutions to the global market.

At this stage, the collaborative focus of both parties will prioritize the food sector. We have completed the layout of a comprehensive solution for novel food ingredients such as yellow Chlorella protothecoides. In the future, we will jointly promote the implementation of the entire protein system in diverse scenarios, including beverages, casual health foods, and functional dietary products.

In addition, in the beauty and personal care sector, Guangdong Salt has been deeply rooted in Guangdong for many years, possessing abundant resources within the regional personal care industry cluster and an extensive network of brand clients. This enables us to efficiently connect with local end-user brands and accelerate the commercialization of MEVs.

VCBeat: The majority of the funds from this financing round will be used to build the MEVs intelligent manufacturing base. What is the positioning of this factory? Why invest at this point in time?

Xiao Yibo: Over the past two years, non-animal-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) have garnered increasing market attention. However, what the industry truly lacks is not conceptual samples, but comprehensive solutions that are stable, high-quality, scalable, and compliant with global regulatory standards.

The market is still in its early stages, with significant variations among companies in terms of technological approaches, quality standards, and industrial supporting capabilities. A mature and stable global supply system has not yet taken shape. For brand customers, what they truly need is a solutions provider capable of ensuring long-term, stable supply and compliance with international standards. This is a key reason behind our decision to establish an industrialization base.

In the future, this base will feature microalgae while also deploying active extracellular vesicles derived from microbes and higher plants, aiming to establish a benchmark industrial base for non-animal-derived active extracellular vesicles targeting the global market. Construction of the base has already commenced.

Historically, the high-end raw material market has been dominated by overseas suppliers, fostering an entrenched perception within the industry that “imported equals premium.” However, in the niche sector of non-animal-derived active extracellular vesicles, we have the opportunity to achieve full-chain control from source materials to finished products. By establishing global quality standards for China’s high-end biomanufacturing—rather than engaging solely in price competition—we aim to win over global customers through consistent quality, continuous innovation, and scalable supply chain capabilities, making them willing to choose high-end biomanufacturing solutions from China.

VCBeat: Please introduce Protoga's Algsis Active Vesicle Series.

Xiao Yibo: Algsis is our brand for active extracellular vesicle solutions, covering three major categories: microalgae, microorganisms, and higher plants. It has already achieved industrialization of more than ten types of active extracellular vesicles, including those derived from different species such as Chlorella, Euglena, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, lactic acid bacteria, and yeast.

Currently, personal care remains the core application scenario for this solution, while we are continuously expanding its application scope in the functional dietary supplements sector.

In addition to the first-generation naturally active extracellular vesicles, we have developed second-generation loaded active extracellular vesicles—leveraging the inherent delivery properties of vesicles to encapsulate active ingredients such as peptides and compounds, thereby addressing practical delivery challenges like skin barrier penetration and gastrointestinal degradation. Meanwhile, our third-generation pipeline utilizes synthetic biology approaches to enable cells to naturally encapsulate target components during secretion, achieving integrated development of efficacy and vesicle structure.

VCBeat: What is the greatest advantage of microalgae-derived active extracellular vesicles?

Xiao Yibo: The core value of the entire solution lies in fundamentally resolving the multiple contradictions hindering commercial implementation within the industry.

First, achieving a breakthrough in safety and sustainability: The entire system is built on a pure plant-based microalgae platform, completely avoiding the risk of viral contamination inherent in animal-derived vesicles and the globally prevalent ethical controversies surrounding animal use. It fully aligns with the long-term global trends toward clean beauty, vegan consumption, and low-carbon sustainability.

Second, achieving a breakthrough through differentiated efficacy: Global microalgae germplasm resources are extremely abundant, with algal strains naturally possessing distinct bioactive properties shaped by their environments. For instance, microalgae from high-altitude waters exhibit enhanced UV resistance, while those from extreme cold regions demonstrate potent reparative and soothing effects. These natural bioactivities align closely with skincare product development. Furthermore, by leveraging second- and third-generation vesicle modification technologies, we can customize exclusive delivery solutions tailored to brand-specific needs, thereby escaping the intense market competition driven by ingredient homogenization.

Third is the breakthrough in commercialization: Consumers already have a strong awareness of algae-based ingredients, and global leading brands such as La Mer, Estée Lauder, and L'Oréal have mature applications of algae. This provides a solid foundation for market education for our B2B ingredient solutions, significantly shortening the launch cycle for new brand products.

VCBeat: In early June this year, the Chlorella vulgaris with yellow protein nuclei independently developed by Protoga was successfully approved as a new food raw material in China. What are the features of this product?

Xiao Yibo: Novel sustainable proteins represent a core strategic focus of our long-term development. Across the broader food industry, previous microalgae protein solutions have long been constrained by three major barriers: suboptimal flavor profiles, insufficient processing stability, and lack of regulatory approval, which collectively prevented their large-scale adoption in mainstream consumer products. Over the years, we have continuously optimized technologies across the entire value chain to address these industrialization bottlenecks. The approval of Chlorella protothecoides (yellow strain) as a novel food ingredient in China marks our successful navigation of the most critical regulatory hurdle for the commercialization of microalgae proteins, thereby providing the global food industry with a new low-carbon protein supply pathway.

Compared to traditional livestock farming and soy protein systems, the germplasm of yellow-protein Chlorella kessleri naturally possesses a high content of complete protein, while also being enriched with natural nutrients such as functional polysaccharides and bioactive peptides. It can simultaneously meet the dual demands of basic protein supplementation for the general population and enhanced efficacy in high-end functional diets, making it a novel biological resource aligned with the national strategy for diversified food supply.

VCBeat: With Chlorella vulgaris (yellow protein core strain) as the focus, what are Protoga ’s upcoming product plans and application strategies?

Xiao Yibo: Leveraging this core microalgae chassis, we have established a comprehensive matrix of YELO's Chlorella full-scenario sustainable protein solutions, offering segmented, customized support systems to the global food industry. YELO's Chlorella Sol-power/Juice is tailored for lightweight liquid product requirements, with broad applicability in mass-market FMCG scenarios such as beverages, casual snacks, and baked goods. As the world’s first complete solution for microalgae-based plant protein beverages, YELO's Chlorella Plant-milk/Protein Water opens up a new innovation track in the plant-based beverage sector, driven by its differentiated advantage of high nutrient density. Meanwhile, YELO's Chlorella Protein focuses on the premium nutrition market, providing a novel plant-based protein option for functional foods, health supplements, and foods for special medical purposes.

VCBeat: The microalgae biomanufacturing sector is heating up. What is Protoga’s core competitiveness?

Xiao Yibo: In the early stages of development, our core barrier was a differentiated R&D philosophy. Currently and in the future, the core competitiveness of an enterprise must be its complete industrial implementation support capabilities and its ability to design solutions that align with the real needs of the global market. The R&D logic of most companies in the industry is to "develop new technologies and then find market applications," while Protoga has always adhered to reverse-engineering technology and solution development directions from the pain points of global end-user industries. All pipelines are built around the unmet needs of the industry.

Our long-term development goal is to build a comprehensive bio-manufacturing infrastructure platform featuring microalgae and covering multiple biological chassis, continuously providing full-suite solutions for the sustainable transformation of the global beauty and food industries.

VCBeat: What other milestones of Protoga are worth paying attention to before the end of this year?

Xiao Yibo: We look forward to the concentrated market launch of end-user brand products from both domestic and international markets, equipped with our complete Algsis and YELO’s series solutions, thereby allowing the market to directly witness the commercial value of microalgae-based biomanufacturing solutions.

VCBeat: Finally, looking back three years from now, how would you like the outside world to define Protoga?

Xiao Yibo: Looking back from three years hence, I hope the industry and market will define Protoga as: a globally leading biomanufacturing enterprise.

In my view, the core benchmark for assessing the long-term value of a biomanufacturing enterprise has never been the number of patents or laboratory technology reserves, but rather the ability to consistently translate cutting-edge biotechnologies into standardized industrial solutions, and then deploy and penetrate these comprehensive solutions into global end-to-end supply chains. This is also Protoga’s most core development goal for the coming years: leveraging its mature, full-chain industrialization capabilities to transform more frontier biomanufacturing technologies into tangible industrial forces that address global challenges in sustainable supply.