Octarine Bio raises €5 million to scale sustainable pigments
Octarine Bio, a Copenhagen-based biotech developing sustainable pigments through precision fermentation, has raised an additional €5 million in a Series A extension to accelerate industrial validation and commercial rollout of its natural pigment platform, PurePalette. The financing brings the company’s total Series A to €12.8 million, including earlier pre-Series A funding.
The company said the new capital will support production scale-up for its first three flagship colours, execution of existing commercial partnerships, and expanded research and product development into additional end markets beyond textiles.
New and existing investors join the extension
The round was backed by existing investors and joined by new participants including The Footprint Firm, Edaphon, Unconventional Ventures, DSM-Firmenich Ventures, and Oskare Capital, alongside several business angels. Among the angels are Per Falholt and Steen Riisgaard, the former CSO and CEO of Novozymes (now Novonesis).
Nethaji Gallage, CEO and co-founder of Octarine Bio, described the close of the Series A as a turning point for the company’s commercialization efforts.
“The completion of our Series A is a pivotal step for Octarine. It enables us to scale production of our first three flagship PurePalette colours, execute on commercial partnerships already in place, and expand product development of our safe and sustainable pigments into new industries,” Gallage said. “We deeply appreciate the unwavering support from our existing investors and are excited to welcome new partners who bring additional industry-relevant capabilities.”
Targeting one of the most polluting steps in textiles
The company’s pitch centers on replacing fossil-based dyes with bio-based pigments that can be adopted without major changes to manufacturing. Textile dyeing is widely viewed as one of the most environmentally burdensome steps in the apparel supply chain due to water use, chemical inputs, and wastewater treatment challenges.
Anna Zimmermann, Senior Associate at Edaphon, said PurePalette could reduce the environmental footprint of dyeing if it scales effectively.
“PurePalette has the potential to drastically reduce the environmental impact of textile dyeing, one of the most polluting steps in the textile value chain,” Zimmermann said. “By fitting into existing dyeing processes, the pigments can be widely adopted and drive meaningful change across the industry.”
How PurePalette works
Founded in 2018, Octarine Bio is a synthetic biology company that engineers microbial systems to produce pigments. It uses proprietary fermentation and biocatalysis approaches to manufacture colourants designed to match the performance requirements of industrial dyes while lowering environmental impact.
The company claims PurePalette is a fully bio-based colour platform capable of delivering the entire colour spectrum through a single production process. It also positions the pigments as “drop-in” compatible with existing textile dyeing systems—an adoption advantage in an industry where retrofitting equipment can be costly and slow.
While textiles are a primary focus, Octarine Bio says the pigments’ properties could enable use across multiple sectors, including food and beverage and cosmetics, where regulatory, safety, and stability requirements differ significantly from apparel.
Commercialization signals and market context
Investors highlighted both the team and the breadth of potential applications as drivers of interest. Jonas Ahm-Lundgren, Partner at The Footprint Firm, said the firm views bio-based colour as a large opportunity.
“We are thrilled to continue backing Octarine in bringing their groundbreaking technology to market. The team is world-class, and the potential for bio-based colour in the textile space and beyond is enormous,” Ahm-Lundgren said.
The funding also lands amid continued—though selective—European investment in synthetic biology and sustainable materials. Recent rounds in adjacent areas include London-based Solena Materials, which raised €5.9 million in seed funding in May 2025 to scale synthetic-biology-enabled textiles, and Helsinki-based Avenue Biosciences, which secured €4.8 million in January 2026 to expand protein engineering and manufacturing tools. Together, those disclosed financings total roughly €10.7 million, providing a snapshot of ongoing capital deployment into enabling platforms and sustainable production technologies.
What comes next
With the Series A extension, Octarine Bio is expected to focus on industrial-scale validation—often a critical hurdle for fermentation-based materials companies—while moving from pilot volumes to production that can reliably meet customer specifications and cost targets.
The company said it will prioritize scaling its first three PurePalette colours, advancing commercial partnerships already in place, and expanding development into additional industries where demand for sustainable, high-performance colourants is rising.
Related
