ADM Ventures Announces New Investment in Microbiome

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ADM Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of ADM (NYSE: ADM), today announced its investment in Seventure’s Health For Life Capital (HFLC) Fund II. HFLC, based in Paris, is a leading venture capital fund dedicated to health, nutrition, microbiota and digital health.

“We view Seventure as the premier investor in microbiome startups focused on human health and nutrition, and since 2018, ADM has worked closely with the Seventure team to identify opportunities with microbiome solutions that can ultimately help with dietary supplements and food and beverage applications to serve as functional or proactive solutions,” said Darren Streiler, managing director of ADM Ventures. “We believe Seventure can help meet the long-term demand we see as the result of the convergence of food and pharmaceuticals and consumers looking more towards bioactives and nutrition for wellness solutions.”

The microbiome consists of trillions of micro-organisms that reside on or inside the human body. ADM’s primary interest is the vast, complex bacterial ecosystem that lives within the digestive tract and constitutes the majority of every individual’s unique microbiome.

“With a better understanding of how the microbiome ecosystem works, we can develop functional ingredients for dietary supplements and food and beverage solutions targeted to help improve overall health,” Streiler said. “We are focused on looking at new, innovative solutions that can lead to a more balanced bacterial system in your digestive tract, otherwise known as a healthy gut, and can help lead to better health.”

ADM is committed to discovering and leveraging nutritional ingredients that can be used for preventative health, as well as for treating common ailments or even chronic diseases in both humans and animals. The company’s new probiotics production facility in Valencia, Spain – which will significantly increase its post- and prebiotic production capacity – is planned to be online in 2022.

ADM is an established market leader for microbiome solutions, with an award-winning portfolio of products and ingredients, including NutraIngredients’ 2020 ‘Probiotic Product of the Year’, ADM’s Bio-Kult Migréa®; 2020 Ingredient of the Year in the Weight Management category, ADM’s Bifidobacterium lactis BPL1; and the 2020 Editor’s Award winner for Functional Food Innovation, ADM’s Bacillus subtilis PXN®21®, a live microbial strain shown to reduce the aggregation of α-synuclein, paving the way for future research in Parkinson’s disease.

For more information about ADM’s functional health solutions, visit www.adm.com/functionalhealth.

About ADM Ventures

ADM has a 118-year legacy of pioneering innovation – one it continues to uphold through its venture investing arm, ADM Ventures (ADMV). ADM Ventures invests in cutting edge start-ups with disruptive technologies across three key areas: human nutrition, animal nutrition, and sustainability. More precisely, ADMV seeks to create functional and clean label ingredient portfolios that advance the growth strategy of ADM by both investing in and collaborating with startups that are focused on improving human and animal health and nutrition. ADMV also seeks startups that utilize ADM’s assets and feedstocks to produce sustainable materials, in addition to technologies that enhance the effectiveness or efficiency of ADM’s operations. ADMV’s separate internal, incubated new products group creates and operates new product lines and new businesses for ADM.

About ADM

At ADM, we unlock the power of nature to provide access to nutrition worldwide. With industry-advancing innovations, a complete portfolio of ingredients and solutions to meet any taste, and a commitment to sustainability, we give customers an edge in solving the nutritional challenges of today and tomorrow. We’re a global leader in human and animal nutrition and the world’s premier agricultural origination and processing company. Our breadth, depth, insights, facilities and logistical expertise give us unparalleled capabilities to meet needs for food, beverages, health and wellness, and more. From the seed of the idea to the outcome of the solution, we enrich the quality of life the world over. Learn more at www.adm.com.

Source: Corporate release