Biosurfactant investment grows

Competition is heating up in biosurfactants, an emerging family of ingredients for cleaning and personal care products. Made via fermentation, biosurfactants contain a hydrophilic sugar head and a hydrophobic fatty acid tail. They are gentle to skin, hair, and mucous membranes relative to conventional surfactants such as sodium lauryl ether sulfate. The interest in biosurfactants was apparent at the recent ICIS World Surfactants Conference. The start-up Dispersa took the opportunity to launch its first product, a mixture of two sophorolipids made from waste sugars and oils. Using waste as a feedstock is key for Dispersa. Founder and CEO Nivatha Balendra said the firm can beat the carbon footprint of synthetic surfactants and avoid competing with food crops for agricultural land. And because surfactants are high-value ingredients, Balendra said, she can outbid biofuel makers for feedstocks like used cooking oil. More established biosurfactant makers are also on the move.