Cauldron Ferm, based out of Orange, Australia, has raised $6.25 million in a Series A round led by Horizons Ventures to scale its continuous fermentation or “hyper-fermentation” tech, which deploys a novel bioreactor design and proprietary growth medium formulation to improve the economics of large scale fermentation production by five times compared to current industry standard.
This technology is the key to allowing more sustainable bio-based products to reach price parity and achieve
mainstream adoption. The round, which was supported by SOSV and In-Q-Tel (IQT) and Main Sequence, brings Cauldron’s total funding to $17 million.
Cauldron’s technology has perfected continuous hyper-fermentation production, compared to the short-term “batch” production widely in use today. Cauldron has successfully run a 10,000 liter production system continuously for more than eight months without contamination or “genetic drift” of the microbes—two of the biggest challenges in running long-term fermentation. Because Cauldron’s system operates continuously, it can out-produce traditional batch systems five times larger with its smaller, far less costly bio-reactors.
“Michele and Cauldron’s history of succeeding at long-run fermentation is unparalleled. The benefits of the technology—the ability to continuously produce, up to 50% lower net unit costs, and 20% more output with 45% less capex—dismantle a major obstacle for the industry and position the company as a critical manufacturing partner for companies building a more sustainable future,” said Po Bronson, SOSV GP & IndieBio Managing Director.
