Amyris

What Amyris does

Amyris, Inc. is a privately-held U.S. biotechnology company headquartered in Emeryville, California that uses precision fermentation to convert plant-derived sugars into high-performance specialty molecules for B2B customers. The company operates a vertically integrated platform spanning Automated Strain Engineering (ASE), enzyme engineering, fermentation process development, downstream purification, and commercial-scale manufacturing, anchored by the 1.44 million liter Barra Bonita plant in Brazil and a finishing facility in Leland, North Carolina. Its commercial portfolio includes 15 fermentation-based molecules and 4 semi-synthetic derivatives, including Farnesene (a building block for Vitamin E, F&F, and materials), Squalane (cosmetic emollient), Squalene (vaccine adjuvant), Reb M (zero-calorie sweetener), Bisabolol, and Patchouli, with ingredients reaching more than 300 million consumers through 20,000+ products.

The company's revenue mechanics combine direct fermentation-based ingredient sales, technology licensing and royalties (notably the exclusive Reb M license to Ingredion), and contract manufacturing services for customers at different commercialization stages. Go-to-market is enterprise B2B direct sales with bench-to-bench collaboration across flavors & fragrances, beauty and personal care, food and beverage, specialty materials, agriculture, and pharmaceutical customers. Named enterprise customers include Firmenich, Givaudan, CRODA, Ingredion, and WACKER. Manufacturing operations generate over 1 billion data points per day that feed proprietary AI/ML models used in strain and process optimization, and the company holds over 700 patents.

Amyris filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 2023, divested its consumer brands, and emerged in 2024 as a focused B2B ingredients business led by CEO Kathy Fortmann (appointed May 2024) and CTO Sunil Chandran (returned September 2025). Post-restructuring milestones include taking 100% ownership of the Barra Bonita plant via acquisition of Ingredion's 31% RealSweet stake (May 2025), Board approval of a 2030 Strategic Plan with additional long-term investor funding (November 2024), commissioning a fourth production line at Barra Bonita (March 2026), and launching an expanded WACKER partnership for bio-based personal care ingredients under the BELNEXT brand (April 2026).

Name

Amyris

Legal name

Amyris, Inc.

Website

https://amyris.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Amyris is a U.S. biotech that uses precision fermentation to produce renewable specialty ingredients (Farnesene, Squalane, Reb M, and others) for B2B customers in flavors & fragrances, beauty, food, pharma, and materials. It operates the 1.44M-liter Barra Bonita plant in Brazil.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Ingredients & Biomanufacturing

NAICS

Food Manufacturing (311)

SIC

Industrial Organic Chemicals (2860)

akta.pro primary industry

Enzymes & Industrial Biotechnology Inputs (Enzymes, Microbial Strains, Fermentation Aids) (EUAAAIAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Sweeteners (Sugar, HFCS, Alternative Sweeteners) (CRADAOAB), Enzymes & Processing Aids (Baking, Brewing, Dairy, Meat) (CRADAOAH)

Keywords

• Precision fermentation ingredients
• Renewable specialty chemicals
• Biomanufacturing platform
• Sustainable fragrance ingredients
• Fermented cosmetic emollients

Headquarters

HQ city

Emeryville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Fermentation-based ingredient sales: Amyris sells fermentation-produced specialty molecules directly to enterprise customers in flavors & fragrances, beauty, food, agriculture, and specialty materials industries. The company has 15 commercialized fermentation-based molecules and 4 semi-synthetic derivatives at commercial scale.
2. Technology licensing and royalties: Amyris licenses its fermented Reb M technology to Ingredion and earns royalties on Ingredion's future sales of fermented Reb M. Also licenses technology platforms and capabilities to partners seeking specific biotech solutions.
3. Contract manufacturing services: Offers end-to-end biomanufacturing services from strain development through scale-up to commercial production, serving customers at different stages of commercialization lifecycle.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Amyris operates a vertically integrated precision fermentation platform that engineers microorganisms to convert sugarcane-derived sugars into 15+ commercialized renewable specialty ingredients—including Squalene, Squalane, Farnesene, Bisabolol, Patchouli, and Reb M sweetener—sold to enterprise customers in flavors & fragrances, beauty/personal care, food & beverage, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and specialty materials. The company also offers technology licensing, royalties, and end-to-end contract biomanufacturing services spanning strain engineering, process development, piloting, and commercial-scale manufacturing.

Product overview

Amyris operates as a vertically integrated biomanufacturing company offering a technology platform-plus-services model for renewable biological chemistry. The core offering consists of 15+ commercialized fermentation-based ingredients including Squalene (vaccine adjuvant), Squalane (cosmetic emollient), Farnesene (building block for Vitamin E, F&F, materials), Bisabolol, Patchouli, and Reb M (zero-calorie sweetener), all produced via precision fermentation. Supporting the ingredient portfolio are integrated service platforms: Strain Development (Automated Strain Engineering, enzyme engineering, screening), Process Development (fermentation, purification, chemistry, modeling), Piloting and Scale-up (Emeryville and Campinas facilities), and Manufacturing (Barra Bonita, Brazil and Leland, NC plants). The company serves B2B customers across flavors & fragrances, beauty/personal care, food/beverage, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and advanced materials industries, with ingredients included in over 20,000 products worldwide.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Farnesene Amyris's flagship renewable building block molecule produced at commercial scale via precision fermentation since 2011, serving as a versatile chemical intermediate for Vitamin E, flavors & fragrances, performance materials, and beauty/personal care markets.
• Squalene A renewable vaccine adjuvant ingredient produced via precision fermentation, offering supply security and sustainable sourcing as an alternative to traditional shark-derived squalene for cosmetics and pharmaceutical applications.
• Squalane A leading cosmetic emollient ingredient produced at commercial scale via precision fermentation since 2011, providing a sustainable alternative to traditional squalane sources for skincare and personal care formulations.
• Bisabolol A renewable cosmetic active ingredient produced via precision fermentation, offering reduced ecological impact and addressing sustainability demands in cosmetic and personal care formulations.
• Patchouli A commercially successful fragrance ingredient produced via precision fermentation, providing a sustainable, consistent alternative to traditional botanical patchouli extraction for the flavors and fragrances industry.
• Reb M (Rebaudioside M) Sweetener A zero-calorie, nature-based sweetener produced via precision fermentation, commercialized at scale from 2018 for food and beverage applications and licensed exclusively to Ingredion for global commercialization, with Amyris earning royalties on Ingredion's fermented Reb M sales.
• Strain Development Services Engineering service platform combining Automated Strain Engineering (ASE), enzyme engineering, and high-throughput screening/analytics to create precision-engineered microorganisms for target molecule production. Delivers 1,000x the throughput of traditional strain development methods.
• Process Development Services Development services spanning fermentation process optimization, downstream purification, chemistry process development, and process modeling/Life Cycle Analysis for cost-effective commercial manufacturing of bio-based molecules.
• Piloting and Scale-up Services Pilot plant services at Emeryville, CA (Food-grade compliant, Kosher certified) and Campinas, Brazil enabling technology transfer and prototyping that faithfully represents full-scale production before commercial manufacturing.
• Commercial Manufacturing Services Contract manufacturing services at the flagship 1.44 million liter precision fermentation facility in Barra Bonita, Brazil and the ISO 22716 Cosmetics GMP-certified finishing plant in Leland, NC, supported by a global CMO network for downstream operations.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 20,000 products containing Amyris ingredients reach more than 300 million consumers worldwide
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• WACKER Chemie AGcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 April 2026Strategic partnership announced at in-cosmetics trade show in Paris to jointly develop bio-based functional ingredients for the personal care sector. WACKER contributes silicone chemistry, formulation, and application expertise while Amyris provides biotechnology and biomanufacturing capabilities. Collaboration aims to create innovative cosmetic ingredients under WACKER's new BELNEXT brand of renewable raw materials. Both companies bring decades of complementary expertise and will leverage scalable production methods and global sales networks.
• Ingredion IncorporatedcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 May 2025Wind-down of RealSweet joint venture agreement. Amyris took full ownership of Barra Bonita precision fermentation plant (acquiring Ingredion's 31% stake). Ingredion gained exclusive access to Amyris' fermented Reb M technology to manufacture and commercialize fermented Reb M, with Amyris earning royalties on Ingredion's future sales. This 'perfectly sweet trifecta' of extracted, bioconverted, and fermented Reb M enables nature-based, clean-label sugar-reduction solutions.
• FirmenichcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnership for biotech fragrance ingredients. Firmenich has launched multiple biotech fragrance ingredients with Amyris, including the world's first biotech derived fragrance ingredient in 2014, followed by additional launches in 2016, 2018, and 2019.
• GivaudancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for cosmetic ingredients with first commercial cosmetic ingredient launched in 2017. Collaboration continues for development of renewable beauty ingredients.
• CRODAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommercial launch of Squalene, a vaccine adjuvant ingredient, in 2025. CRODA serves as a customer for Amyris' renewable squalene for cosmetics and pharmaceutical applications.
• CMO NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic network of Contract Manufacturing Organizations (CMOs) with specialized capabilities in certain downstream operations across Brazil, Europe, and the United States. Network ensures agility and flexibility in scaling new products and integrating internal and external operations.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Conagen: Conagen is a precision fermentation company developing ingredients for food, flavor, fragrance, cosmetics, and pharma via engineered microbes. It competes head-to-head with Amyris in fermentation-based specialty ingredients and shares the same bench-to-bench B2B partnership model.
• Codexis: Codexis engineers enzymes and proteins for pharmaceutical and sustainable manufacturing applications, with an ingredient business serving food and consumer products. Its enzyme engineering and strain optimization capabilities directly overlap Amyris's ASE platform and core technology stack.
• Ginkgo Bioworks: Ginkgo Bioworks operates a cell programming and fermentation platform serving customers across flavors & fragrances, food, cosmetics, and industrial biotech. Like Amyris, it monetizes through both ingredient production and platform/services partnerships, making it the most directly comparable synthetic biology peer.

Broad incumbents

• DSM-Firmenich: DSM-Firmenich is a major F&F and nutrition ingredients company formed from the merger of DSM and Firmenich (an Amyris customer). It offers broad portfolios in flavors, fragrances, food ingredients, and personal care with growing investment in biotech-derived alternatives.
• Croda International: Croda is a specialty ingredients company serving personal care, health care, and performance technologies. It is both an Amyris customer (Squalene vaccine adjuvant, 2025) and a broader incumbent in cosmetic and pharmaceutical excipients, providing competitive context for Amyris's specialty ingredient offerings.
• Givaudan: Givaudan is the world's largest fragrance and flavor company and a long-standing Amyris partner (since 2017). It serves as both customer and adjacent competitor, with its own biotechnology and natural ingredient investments that could eventually overlap more directly with Amyris's offerings.
• Cargill: Cargill is a global food and agriculture conglomerate with extensive food ingredients, sweeteners, and fermentation capabilities. Its bioindustrial and specialty food ingredients businesses overlap with Amyris's fermentation-based ingredient portfolio, particularly in sweeteners and food applications.
• Novonesis (formerly Novozymes): Novonesis is the world's largest industrial enzyme and biotech company serving food, beverages, household care, and agriculture. It is a broad incumbent with overlapping capabilities in fermentation-based ingredients and enzyme engineering that competes in many of Amyris's end markets.
• International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF): IFF is a global leader in flavors, fragrances, and food ingredients, and is a customer, competitor, and former employer of Amyris executives. It serves overlapping end-markets across F&F, food, and personal care with both natural and synthetic ingredient portfolios.

Emerging players

• Twist Bioscience: Twist Bioscience provides synthetic DNA and biological engineering tools that enable precision fermentation developers including Amyris. It is an enabling/adjacent player in the synthetic biology stack rather than a direct ingredient competitor, but increasingly relevant as AI-driven strain engineering becomes more accessible.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Amyris
• Facebookfacebook.com/amyris.inc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/amyris-inc

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds27 records

Investors17 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A6 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Amyris