Draft:Bloom Biorenewables

Bloom Biorenewables Sarl (also known as Bloom) is a start-up company founded in 2019 in Fribourg, Switzerland. It is a spin-off company from the école polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and is a chemical company developing biorefining technology and selling bio-based products derived from biomass. The company relies on an organsolv fractionation process called aldehyde assisted fractionation (AAF). The main products of the company are lignin, lignin derivatives, functionalised hemicellulose, and cellulose. Bloom has raised over 4M€ in capital to date with support from global investment funds, such as Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Extantia. It collaborates with large multinational corporations such as DSM-Firmenich, Soprema, and Amcor.

Technology and Products
Bloom Biorenewables develops a type of biorefinery aiming at deconstruction biomass into its three main components: lignin, hemicellulose, and cellulose. The technology relies on an aldehyde assisted fractionation (AAF) technology developed in 2015 in the laboratory of Prof. Dr Jeremy Luterbacher at école polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). This low temperature process uses aldehydes as protecting agents to stabilise reactive moities inside biomass, such as lignin and hemicellulose, and thus circumvents common side reactions typically encountered during biomass fractionation. This organsolv process differs from traditional pulp and pape r processes in that it (i) aims to use all fractions contained within biomass for chemical or material uses, (ii) works in organic solvents and not in aqueous media, (iii) does not use sulfur or sulfur containing compounds in its process, and (iv) delivers a different quality and type of lignin and cellulose. The raw materials used by Bloom range from woody biomass, to hazelnut shells, or corn cobs. The key products Bloom produces from these feedstocks include lignin-based aromatic molecules for the fragrance & flavour and fine chemistry sector, as well as a sugar-based solvent and bio-plastic.

Funding and Projects
Bloom has closed two funding rounds up to date: a pre-Seed financing round of 0.5M € closed in, and a Seed financing round of 3.9M € in 2020.

Bloom's key projects include nationally funded ones, such as the InnoSuisse projects "Towards efficient biorefining - meeting market demand for high-value bio-based products" and "PAX: a family of bio-based polyesters". EU-funded projects such as the Horizon 2020 funded "IdealFuel" consortium or the Circular Bio-based Economy Joint-Undertaking funded "Countless" project,  both projects developing lignin materials for various applications. The company has also participitated in exploratory research in the biomedical field through a collaboration with the Swiss Federal Institute for Materialscience and Technology (EMPA).

Awards, Prizes, and Distinctions
The company has won numerous awards including Venture Kick Switzerland, the HEIG-VD Ethics Prize 2022, the Prix Sud Sustainable Startup 2023 award of Le Temps, the Swiss Technology Award 2021, the Sustainable Economy Award of the canton of Fribourg 2020/2021, and has been named 6th best Swiss start-up in 2023. Bloom was also featured on the New York Times Square as part of the Norrsken Impact 100 list, and obtained the "Efficient Solution" label from the Solar Impulse Foundation. Bloom has also presented on prestigious platforms such as TedX and has pitched its ideas to the French and Swiss presidents.