Pioneering synthetic biology firm Debut, known for its groundbreaking development of unique, high-performing active ingredients for the beauty sector, has successfully completed a $34M Series B funding round. BOLD spearheaded the initiative, L'Oréal's venture capital arm, marking a significant strategic partnership for the synthetic biology leader.

Fine Structure Ventures, Material Impact, GS Futures, Cavallo Ventures, Cultivian Sandbox Ventures, and ACVC Partners were among the numerous investors contributing to the funding round.

As a result of its partnership with BOLD, Debut plans to accelerate the development and commercialization of a range of novel ingredients and products for beauty and personal care. Leveraging its unique cell-free and biotechnology model, Debut stands alone in the biotech space with its comprehensive vertical integration, spanning ingredient discovery to delivering scalable, clinically-backed finished products at unparalleled speed. With the financial resources from the Series B round and partnership with BOLD, Debut is well-positioned to redefine industry benchmarks.

Debut Founder and CEO Joshua Britton, Ph.D., explained, "Debut exists to set a new standard in beauty by developing novel active ingredients that herald a new era with regard to performance, sustainability, scalability, and cost, and we are thrilled to be partnering with L'Oréal's BOLD, the beauty world leader that is as invested in this industry's future as we are... We harness synthetic biology to create novel and higher-performing ingredients that are not accessible by other means in order to advance product benefits and target unmet consumer needs."

Barbara Lavernos, Deputy Chief Executive Officer in charge of Research, Innovation, and Technology at L'Oréal, added, "Debut addresses one of the beauty world's fundamental challenges: driving innovation without the resource-intensity and environmental impact that comes with relying on traditional manufacturing alone... We could not be more excited to be the first beauty leader to invest in Debut and partner with them to create stand-out active beauty innovations while protecting the planet's resources."

The proprietary Bio2Consumer™ platform of Debut streamlines ingredient discovery, cell-free biofermentation, formulation, clinical trials, and brand creation, offering a revolutionary approach to traditional methodologies. The platform significantly reduces resource requirements, including space, water, and unsustainable inputs, and boosts traditional ingredient manufacturing. Leveraging a proprietary database of over 3.8 million pre-clinical data points, Debut can rapidly and sustainably produce high-value ingredients.

Debut's blend of natural and lab-made ingredients are optimized for both performance and sustainability, reflecting the company's commitment to minimizing environmental impact. Britton explained, "What science allows us to do is understand how nature makes it and then translate that to an industrially scalable system to provide the exact same molecules that are found in trace amounts in nature using synthetic biology."

The company's recent $22.6M Series A funding in August 2021, led by Material Impact, enabled it to expand its unique ingredient development model, foster its in-house brand incubator, and move into a larger 26,000-square-foot facility in San Diego.

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