BioAmber Inc. has raised $45 million dollars in Series B financing with the monies used to accelerate the commercialization of succinic acid and modified PBS including the construction of a plant in North America. The round was led by NAXOS Capital Partners who helped to secure a new investor, Mitsui & Co. a Japanese trading company. The round was co-led by BioAmber’s largest shareholder, Sofinnova Partners, a leading European venture capital firm.

The money will also fund ongoing development work in the field of succinic acid. According to the company, this work includes work pertaining to the second generation organism being developed with Cargill, the technology licensed from DuPont that converts succinic acid to 1,4-butanediol (BDO), the novel purification process developed and scaled up with MATRIC, and the use of non-food feedstocks to produce biobased succinic acid.

“We were impressed by BioAmber’s management team, breadth of strategic partnerships and business model and we are very pleased to be the lead investor in this round,” said Carole Piwnica, Managing Partner of NAXOS and newly elected Vice-Chairman of BioAmber’s Board of Directors.

Jean-Francois Huc, CEO of BioAmber added, “We are proud to welcome NAXOS, which brings extensive industry experience, and Mitsui & Co., which has a global presence in biobased chemicals, and we are thankful for Sofinnova’s unwavering support. With our strong investor base and unrivaled partnerships, we are poised for rapid growth and long term market leadership.”