Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) has invested in the biotechnology start-up In Ovo through its venture capital unit and now holds a minority stake in the company, based in Leiden, the Netherlands. Co-leading this Series A investment is Singapore-based venture capital fund, VisVires New Protein. Along with the participation of Leiden University this brings the total financing round to an investment of several million.
“In Ovo has taken on one of the biggest ethical problems in modern poultry farming,” says Bernhard Mohr, head of Venture Capital at Evonik. “This investment strengthens Evonik’s position as a partner of choice for the farming industry as we can provide support for ethical food production.”
In Germany alone, an estimated 40 million day-old male chicks from laying-hen hatcheries are killed annually, and the global figure is thought to be 3.2 billion. Poultry farms do not rear the male animals because they can neither lay eggs nor put on sufficient flesh for meat production.
In Ovo has developed a method for determining the sex in the egg that is particularly fast and reliable and can be readily integrated into the workflow of large hatcheries. The technology is being combined with a system to process the large number of eggs to be screened. In large hatcheries about 100,000 eggs must be analyzed daily.
“In Ovo is an excellent strategic fit for Evonik’s existing business,” says Emmanuel Auer, head of the company’s Animal Nutrition business line. “This commitment will sustainably strengthen our Animal Nutrition growth engine by allowing us to expand our presence in the egg-producing sector.”
Evonik products and services in the field of animal nutrition play a key role worldwide in the production of healthy and affordable food with conservation of natural resources and a reduced ecological footprint. The company is a leading global supplier of amino acids and their derivatives for advanced animal nutrition and is systematically expanding its product range in the direction of sustainable and healthy animal nutrition.
In Ovo was founded in 2013 by biomedical scientist Wil Stutterheim and biologist Wouter Bruins, who met at the University of Leiden. The technology is based on biomarkers identified by the founders; these allow the gender of chick embryos in the egg to be accurately determined early after fertilization. For this purpose, a tiny, easily resealable hole is made in the egg — this has for many years been standard procedure for inoculation of chick embryos in the egg. A sample is then taken and examined by mass spectrometry for the biomarker identified by In Ovo, which has already been patented. In Ovo plans to use the invested capital to develop the technology to the stage where it can be applied on the commercial scale in hatcheries.
“In Evonik, we’re delighted to have gained a partner with extensive knowledge of process scaleup and in the introduction of new technologies,” says Wouter Bruins, co-founder and one of the managing directors of In Ovo.