Danish biotech startup Bactolife has secured more than €30 million in a recent Series B funding round, as reported by investors and European biotech media, marking a key moment in the company’s effort to bring a new kind of gut-health solution to market. The round is said to have been led by Cross Border Impact Ventures (CBIV) and Denmark’s Export and Investment Fund (EIFO), with continued backing from existing investors such as Novo Holdings and ATHOS. The company has shared that the fresh capital will go toward advancing clinical work, expanding production capabilities, and preparing for future market launches, including an initial push in the US.
How the Idea Took Shape
Bactolife’s story began in Copenhagen in 2017, but the thinking behind the company started a little earlier. The founders have previously spoken about how early conversations in 2016 sparked the idea for a different approach to gut health. Mads Laustsen, a longtime biotech entrepreneur, and his son Andreas Laustsen-Kiel, who was working in protein research at the time, began discussing whether protein science could be used to solve problems that existing gut-health solutions struggled with.
They felt that many of the available options weren’t ideal. Antibiotics, while effective, often wiped out helpful bacteria along with harmful ones. Probiotics, on the other hand, didn’t always deliver consistent results. These gaps pushed the founders to explore a more targeted approach, one that could deal with harmful elements in the gut without disturbing the broader microbiome. That thinking eventually led to the creation of Bactolife A/S, built around a team combining research expertise with industrial biotech experience.
What Sets Bactolife Apart
At the heart of Bactolife’s work is its Binding Proteins™ technology. The company explains these as engineered proteins designed to attach themselves to specific unwanted compounds in the gut, helping neutralize them while leaving beneficial bacteria largely untouched.
Rather than adding new bacteria or killing existing ones, this approach focuses on precision. Bactolife believes this makes its technology suitable for a range of uses, from nutrition and supplements to animal health, while also fitting into wider efforts to reduce reliance on antibiotics. To make the technology scalable, the proteins are produced using precision fermentation, a method commonly used in industrial biotechnology to ensure consistency and volume.
Also Read: GOAT Life Secures Additional ₹1.6 Crore to Extend Pre-Seed Funding Round
Early Backing and First Steps
Investor interest started building as the platform took shape. In 2021, Bactolife raised a seed round reported to be around €7 million, led by Novo Seeds with participation from Selfinvest. This funding helped the company move beyond early research and into initial validation of its technology.
A year later, in 2022, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced a $5 million grant to support Bactolife’s work. The funding was linked to the potential of the technology to help reduce gut-related infections and cut down on antibiotic use, particularly in regions where access to healthcare is limited.
Scaling Up With Series A
Bactolife took a bigger step forward in August 2023, when it announced a €30 million Series A round. The round was led by ATHOS, with participation from Novo Holdings and continued support from the Gates Foundation. The company has said this phase was about moving from promising science to real-world readiness. It expanded its team, strengthened manufacturing processes, and began preparing for regulatory pathways. During this period, Bactolife also shared results from large-scale animal studies. According to company material, trials involving thousands of piglets were conducted to study how the binding proteins could support gut stability during early life stages, an area closely linked to antibiotic use in livestock.
A Fresh Infusion of Capital
The newly reported Series B round, crossing the €30 million mark, signals growing confidence in Bactolife’s long-term plans. The company has indicated that the funding will support upcoming human clinical studies, further production scale-up, and groundwork for future commercial launches.
Sebastian Søderberg, who currently serves as CEO, has pointed out in public comments that the backing reflects belief not just in the science, but in the company’s ability to turn that science into products that work at scale.
What Comes Next
From its early days as a research-driven idea to its latest funding milestone, Bactolife’s journey reflects a careful, step-by-step approach to building a biotech company. With strong institutional backing and growing interest in non-antibiotic gut-health solutions, the company now appears to be entering its next phase, one focused on validation, scale, and real-world impact.
Also Read: Zerodha Backs The Sustainability Mafia with Rs 2 Crore CSR Grant
