Amoéba, an innovative company developing a disruptive biological biocide capable of eliminating waterborne bacterial risk (legionella, pseudomonas, listeria, etc.) has received €20 million financing from the European Investment bank.
The scope of the worldwide market for chemical biocides is an estimated € 21 billion – headquartered in Lyon, France, the company is initially concentrating on the segment of industrial air-cooled towers (ACT) estimated to be worth €1.7 billion.
The EIB financing will enable Amoéba to speed up its production capacity whilst supporting the development of its international business. It will also make a valuable contribution to its investments in research, development and innovation (RDI).
Amoéba aims to revolutionise water treatment via a biological process that can protect the environment from chemical products. The entirely natural solution proposed by Amoéba offers a more effective alternative to the chemical treatments traditionally used in the industrial sector.
“This financing illustrates the priority we are giving to the environment and innovation”, said EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle at the signing ceremony. “It will enable Amoéba to support the development of its innovative biological biocide, which offers an alternative to other forms of water treatment, and increase its production capacity.”
The biological biocide developed by Amoéba is a microorganism, a natural predator of pathogenic bacteria and reservoirs such as biofilm in which bacteria protect themselves from chemical biocides.
The product has undergone an in-depth validation process and has been tested for a total of more than 10 years at industrial sites under real conditions.
Amoéba is planning to invest massively in its production capacity to meet its substantial customer demand and continue to nurture a distribution network that is already well established in Europe and North America.
Amoéba’s biological biocide, BIOMEBA, is produced in Amoéba’s factory in France - the company also has a production unit based in Montreal, Canada. With four 10-L bioreactors, the site’s production capacity allows all R&D testing in Canada and USA, making its future commercialisation in North America possible.
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