French start-up scores $15.8M in Series A funding for bio-based indigo

In France, PILI, a pioneer in decarbonizing the color industry, announced $15.8 million in Series A funding to accelerate its industrialization by producing the first tons of high-performance bio-based indigo. Bpifrance led this round through the fund Ecotechnologies 2, with participation from Famille C Participations and existing investors, such as Elaia Partners.

Since its creation in 2015, PILI’s mission has been to develop and produce biobased dyes and pigments to reduce the environmental footprint of the color industry. Thanks to its hybrid technology combining industrial fermentation and green chemistry, the company offers an ecological and competitive alternative to petrochemical dyes and pigments. PILI aims to replace petro-based indigo by a high-performance bio-based indigo, drastically reducing oil dependence, and cutting CO2 emissions from its production by more than 50%.