Home » AFYREN NEOXY receives €3,4 million milestone payment as part of the AFTER-BIOCHEM project

AFYREN NEOXY receives €3,4 million milestone payment as part of the AFTER-BIOCHEM project

21 March 2024

Press release

AFYREN NEOXY receives third tranche of EU funding to the AFTER-BIOCHEM consortium
Consortium led by AFYREN NEOXY and gathering 12 leading industrial partners from 5 European countries
AFTER-BIOCHEM project will continue with the support of CBE JU

Clermont-Ferrand/Lyon, March 21, 7:45 am – AFYREN, a greentech company that offers manufacturers natural, low-carbon products created with technology based on natural micro-organisms, announced today that AFYREN NEOXY received a €3.4 million payment in recognition of milestones the plant reached.

The payment, recognised in the 2023 accounts of AFYREN NEOXY, is the third instalment of a €20 million grant from the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU), a public-private partnership of the European Union of the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. This project known as AFTER-BIOCHEM, was granted in 2020 to a consortium of 12 partners led by AFYREN NEOXY. This consortium is working toward a common goal: creating sustainable value chains from renewable and non-food raw material and making bio-based chemical building blocks available at scale for industry.

In addition to the production of acids, the project’s scope includes work on the downstream market, where the acids are used as building blocks for other products in markets including food and feed; flavors and fragrances; lubricants and technical fluids. The third grant instalment was approved after an independent panel of experts determined that the AFTER-BIOCHEM project had met a set of achievements.

The AFTER-BIOCHEM project will continue, with the support of CBE JU. A particular focus will be put on plant performance during production phase, including life cycle analysis and product performance analysis with end-user partners. Further developments such as plant replication and new products projects will also be assessed.

With the latest payment, total support from CBE JU to AFTER-BIOCHEM reaches €16 million over the past four years, of which 90% was directly invested in AFYREN-NEOXY. These funds have contributed to all development phases of the plant: construction, commissioning and ramp-up. The factory represents an initial total CAPEX of around €62 million. The French state investment bank BPI has a 49% stake in AFYREN NEOXY.

AFYREN NEOXY is expected to start continuous production of its biobased acids in 2024 and reach financial breakeven in 2025.

Nicolas Sordet, CEO of AFYREN, commented: “This latest instalment of funds and the continuation of the project, underscore the progress made by our partners and us toward our differentiated sustainable solutions. We are grateful for the CBE JU’s excellent work turning European vision into reality, advancing the bio-based sector by helping rallying stakeholders around a common goal. As we prepare for a very active 2024, I’ll take this opportunity to thank all our investors and supporters, public and private.”