Synthetic biology company Debut began in 2019 with technology born out of UC Irvine and a more than generous tip to co-founder and CEO Joshua Britton, Ph.D. while he was working the gig economy as a ride-share driver.
Co-founder & CEO
Debut
“The first money into the company was one of my Uber passengers who – after me pitching her while I was driving her from the airport back to her home – wrote a $100,000 check to get us going.”
Since that generous tip got Debut going, the Sorrento Valley-based biotech specializing in biomanufacturing ingredients for the cosmetic industry has grown to more than 80 employees.
Last month, Debut exceeded $70 million in funding with a $40 million Series B led by BOLD, the venture capital fund of L’Oréal.
“We’re really there to help them transition their entire global portfolio of products to sustainable, higher-performing ingredients that can only be accessed through the power of biotechnology,” Britton said of Debut’s partnership with the world’s largest cosmetic company.
‘New Smells and Experiences’
The funding will be used to advance Debut’s biomanufacturing platform into the perfume and fragrance market.
Debut will work with L’Oréal in two approaches. One is to take the current ingredients involved in production of fine fragrance and transition those away from petroleum- and cultivation-based sources to biotechnology in “a pure sustainability play,” Britton said, adding that while “the story of fragrances is that they are naturally derived,” many are still made chemically.
“There’s a huge push now toward quality and safety – and regulation changes – to look at how we can standardize to make better ingredients in this specific vector,” he said.
Debut’s advanced biomanufacturing will enable fragrance brands to transition to bio-based formulas, while protecting the olfactive integrity of their formulas. Debut’s biotechnology can replicate the scent signature and precise characteristics of natural ingredients, including those that are structurally complex, difficult to source, and only exist in trace amounts in nature.
The other approach will be to develop new, novel fragrance ingredients that are not confined to what is available in nature.
“I think a lot of the fun and value of fragrance is bringing in higher-performing fragrance ingredients, allowing consumers and brands to tap into different parts of the consumer experience,” Britton said, adding that he sees the ability to offer “new smells and experiences” as a major driver of growth in the industry over the next 10 years.
“Biology to us is the tool to make better performing things,” he said. “That’s the other side of fragrance – expanding the toolkit of the perfumer. That’s where we think a lot of the market growth goes.”
Skin Brand Set to Launch
Debut has already had success in biomanufacturing ingredients for skincare products. The company’s DEINDE brand is set to launch in January 2024. DEINDE uses naringenin, a novel skincare ingredient derived from citrus fruits with anti-inflammatory properties. The ingredient is typically difficult to extract, making it a good target for biomanufacturing.
Debut looked at the skin care sector, Britton said, and realized there were few innovations since the chemical production of Vitamin C, the main ingredient in most skincare products.
“The ingredient industry has been limited to only those widely available and easily found,” he added. “It never had the technology and science to look at the other 10,000 chemical ingredients found in nature and ask the question, ‘Out of all this diversity and potential benefit of these 10,000, which ones out-perform Vitamin C?’”
Naringenin, a flavonoid found in citrus fruit, is difficult to extract into a usable substance and also requires large amounts of fruit that require land and water. Debut’s biomanufacturing process saves on both cost and environmental resources in making naringenin.
“Fragrance and skin care hold potentially limitless ingredients for discovery. We’re just at the tip of the iceberg right now,” Britton said. “I think the next 10 years will bring innovation with the high-purity, high-safety, high-quality step change that drives sustainability and performance in this industry.”
Debut
Founded: 2019
CEO: Joshua Britton, Ph.D.
Headquarters: Sorrento Valley
Business: synthetic biology company
Funding: more than $70 million (Series A and B)
Employees: 80
Website: debutbiotech.com
Notable: Debut’s biomanufacturing process replaces petroleum-based and resource-intensive ingredients in cosmetics.
