Paris-Based baCta Raises €7M For AI-Driven Industrial Bioproduction

The round was led by LocalGlobe and Daphni, with participation from OVNI Capital and prominent angel investors, including founders of Phagos, Genomines, and Mistral AI.

Founded in 2024 by Nohet and Marie Rouquette, baCta aims to enable the sustainable abundance of valuable molecules.

The company leverages AI, synthetic biology, and precision fermentation to transform microorganisms into programmable molecular factories capable of producing industrial ingredients efficiently and sustainably.

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“We are entering a new era where microorganisms can be used as programmable molecular factories to synthesise organic molecules profitably at commercial scale. This investment allows us to reach industrial scale for our first ingredient, and demonstrate the value of our unique AI-driven approach, proving that we can make the supply of industrial ingredients both resilient and abundant,” said Mathieu Nohet, founder and CEO of baCta.

Demand for such ingredients is surging, while conventional production methods including petrochemical synthesis and extraction from scarce natural sources remain costly, seasonal and vulnerable to geopolitical and climate risks.

Although bioproduction offers a promising alternative, developing high-yield strains has traditionally required slow, expensive trial-and-error experimentation.

baCta addresses this by combining advances in synthetic biology, robotics and generative AI. Its platform explores genomic “dark matter ” long-range interactions and regulatory pathways often overlooked by conventional methods, enabling the rapid design of optimized strains. Through bio-based reinforcement learning the company reduces both costs and development timelines.

The startup’s first product is astaxanthin, a widely used antioxidant in human health, nutrition, cosmetics and animal feed. The market is currently dominated by petrochemical-derived synthetic versions or costly natural extraction from microalgae. baCta’s proprietary yeast strain produces a drop-in replacement designed to match synthetic pricing while delivering the premium quality of a natural ingredient.

With the new funding, baCta plans to scale astaxanthin production, validate processes at pilot and commercial levels, leverage a strategic partnership with a French industrial player for production access, and begin commercialization.

The company will also expand its baCtaForge strain engineering platform, integrating a Precision Biofoundry with a Genome-to-Factory AI model to accelerate future product development.

“The transition away from petrochemicals is one of the most critical challenges of our time. baCta’s platform approach offers a scalable, economically viable path to replace dirty supply chains with biological factories. Their vision for 2035 aligns perfectly with our thesis on sustainable industrial transformation,” said Pierre-Yves Meerschman, co-founder and Managing Partner at daphni.

About baCta

baCta is an AI-powered industrial biotech company transforming the production of high-value ingredients through precision fermentation. By combining synthetic biology, robotics and generative AI, baCta engineers optimized microbial strains to deliver sustainable, scalable, and cost-efficient alternatives to petrochemical and resource-intensive manufacturing methods.