Montinutra raises €2M to turn forest industry sidestreams into bio-alternatives, replacing fossil-based ingredients in the chemical and cosmetics industries
Summary
The company aims to reach 100 million euros in annual revenue by 2035, with the demo plant up and running by 2026.Forest industry sidestreams such as sawdust, bark, or plywood processing residues are currently hugely undervalued as raw materials, and are often burned for heat and energy. Boreal Bioproducts\xae lignin and phenolic products such as SpruceGlue are being developed as natural replacements.For the cosmetic industry, Boreal Bioproducts\xae offer multiple cosmetic functionalities for film forming, natural color, SPF-boosting, dispersant, and co-emulsifying uses, as well as active ingredients for skin care with anti-aging and anti-oxidant features in personal care products.The company is currently in the midst of planning and pre-engineering its first-of-a-kind demo plant to upcycle forest industry sidestreams, envisioned to be commissioned in 2026. In spring 2023, Montinutra announced its partnership with Ole Hyv\xe4 Luonnontuote in a new personal care product range that contains Boreal Bioproducts\xae SpruceSugar as an ingredient, produced at the current pilot plant in Turku, Finland. ** Under embargo until October 26th, 2023, 7.00 AM CEST **(1)Brian P. Flannery and Jan W. Mares , Greenhouse Gas Index for Products in 39 Industrial Sectors: Synthetic Rubber NAICS CODE 325212, Resources for the Future, September 2022, Pages 1-16. The Boreal Bioproducts\xae product range consists of SpruceSugar Polysaccharides, SpruceLigno Lignins, SpruceFiber PHWE treated softwood fibers, SpruceGlue Phenolic oligosaccharides and SpruceGuard tannin rich polyphenols.