What Allied Carbon Solutions does

Allied Carbon Solutions Co., Ltd. (ACS), founded in June 2006 and headquartered in Numazu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, is a privately held biotechnology company that develops, manufactures, and sells sophorolipid biosurfactants produced through natural yeast (Starmerella bombicola) fermentation of vegetable oil and sugar. The company operates two principal commercial brands: ACS-Sophor®, a 100% natural-origin emulsifier for livestock, fisheries, and aquaculture feed applications, and Sophomore®, a bio-based surfactant for home care, personal care, cosmetics, and industrial cleaning. ACS also markets Soholink™, a biofilm-inhibitor product for water systems, and an agricultural biostimulant product leveraging Patent No. 7599243 for drought resistance. Technology is protected by at least five granted Japanese patents plus international PCT filings, developed through a 15-year joint R&D relationship with Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), with additional collaborations with the University of Tsukuba and the University of Manchester.

The business model combines direct B2B product sales, bespoke contract manufacturing/OEM services, technology licensing, and designated-agent distribution for agricultural products. Pricing is handled entirely through custom quotation following a structured inquiry-to-delivery workflow. Revenue streams span consumer-goods manufacturers (via a 2021 capital and business alliance with BASF for global personal-care distribution), large-scale livestock operations in Kyushu and Okinawa (field trials), industrial cleaning customers, and Japanese agricultural distributors. The company holds US EPA TSCA registration (Case No. P-15-0273), two CAS number registrations, and the ACS-Sophor® trademark (T5603052), enabling international commercialization. Production has been established in India since 2014, and the company was selected in June 2025 for UNIDO's Green Industrial Recovery Project in Ukraine to apply its technology to Ukrainian sunflower oil feedstock.

ACS has raised JPY 550 million (~USD 3.8 million) in Series C funding from UMI and Shizuoka Capital in October 2024, following earlier strategic backing from BASF in 2021. It employs 101-250 staff and has earned recognition including Japan's 2025 'Habataku SMEs 300' award for overseas expansion, 2023 'Topics of 2023' recognition from the Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Agricultural Chemistry, and participation at COP28 in Dubai (December 2023). No revenue figure has been publicly disclosed, and commercial deployment remains at relatively early scale across most product lines.

Name

Allied Carbon Solutions

Legal name

Allied Carbon Solutions株式会社

Website

https://allied-c-s.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Allied Carbon Solutions is a Japanese biotechnology company that develops, manufactures, and sells sophorolipid biosurfactants produced via yeast fermentation for livestock feed, personal care, home care, industrial cleaning, and agricultural biostimulant applications.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Shizuoka

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Biosurfactant Product Sales: ACS manufactures and sells sophorolipid products under the ACS-Sophor® brand (for livestock/fisheries) and Sophomore® brand (for home care and personal care). Revenue is generated through direct product sales and contract manufacturing services where customers provide raw materials (fats/oils) and ACS produces custom sophorolipid formulations. Commercial production is established with proven yield improvement and cost reduction.
2. Contract Manufacturing / OEM Services: ACS offers custom manufacturing services, accepting raw materials (oils and fats) from clients and producing tailored sophorolipid products. The service flow covers inquiry, meeting, raw material analysis and lab prototyping, quotation, production with quality analysis, and delivery. This represents a service-based revenue stream with per-batch pricing.
3. Licensing and Technology Transfer: ACS licenses its proprietary sophorolipid production technology and patents (including the novel sophorolipid derivative patent P6954548 with international PCT application PCT/JP2022/012536). The company also conducts joint development projects with partners under technology licensing arrangements.
4. Agricultural Biostimulant Product Sales: Sales of sophorolipid-based biostimulant products (covered by Patent 7599243) for agricultural applications, targeting drought resistance and water-use efficiency in crops such as cabbage and broccoli. Products are distributed through designated sales agents.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Allied Carbon Solutions manufactures and sells sophorolipid biosurfactants produced via natural yeast (Starmerella bombicola) fermentation of vegetable oil and sugar. The company sells branded products ACS-Sophor® for livestock/fisheries feed applications and Sophomore® for home care, personal care, and industrial cleaning applications. The company also offers Soholink™ biofilm inhibitor, agricultural biostimulant products for drought resistance, and OEM contract manufacturing services for custom sophorolipid production.

Product overview

Allied Carbon Solutions develops and produces natural biosurfactants (sophorolipids) through yeast fermentation using vegetable oil and sugar as raw materials. The company operates two main product brands: ACS-Sophor® for livestock feed emulsifiers and aquaculture applications, and Sophomore® for home care, personal care, and industrial cleaning applications. Additional offerings include the newly launched Soholink™ biofilm inhibitor for water systems, agricultural biostimulant products for drought resistance, and OEM contract manufacturing services for custom sophorolipid production.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ACS-Sophor®: Biosurfactant product for livestock and fisheries uses, including as emulsifier for feed.
• Sophomore®
• ソホリンク™ (Soholink)

Products and services

• ACS-Sophor® Biosurfactant product derived from sophorolipids for livestock and fisheries applications. Functions as a feed emulsifier that improves nutrient and fat-soluble pigment absorption in the intestine of pigs, poultry, and aquaculture species. Outperforms hydrolyzed lecithin in commercial field trials. Sold to large-scale livestock operations including Kyushu's largest pig farms and Okinawa's largest egg-laying farms.
• Sophomore®

Quantifiable outcome

• Sophorolipids achieve 100% biodegradation within 10 days, exceeding the JIS and Food Sanitation Law standard of 90% biodegradability for detergents
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 June 2025ACS was selected for UNIDO's 12-month Feasibility Study under the 'Green Industrial Recovery Project in Ukraine.' ACS will serve as the primary implementing entity, partnering with a Ukrainian company to apply its commercial sophorolipid production technology to Ukrainian sunflower oil, contributing to Ukraine's green industrial recovery.
• Ukrainian Partner CompanyminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 June 2025ACS's Ukrainian partner company in the UNIDO Green Industrial Recovery Project. The partnership aims to apply ACS's sophorolipid production technology to Ukrainian sunflower oil, creating new value-added products and contributing to Ukraine's green industrial recovery.
• University of Tsukuba (筑波大学)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Joint research project initiated in 2017 on biofilm formation inhibition using sophorolipids. The collaboration contributed to understanding how sophorolipids can remove biofilms without killing bacteria, supporting product development for cleaning and personal care applications.
• University of Manchester (UK)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Joint research project initiated in 2017 on manufacturing technology for sophorolipids. Collaboration focuses on improving production efficiency and scalability of the sophorolipid manufacturing process.
• AIST (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2010Long-standing joint R&D partnership with AIST beginning in 2010 for sophorolipid technology development. Joint research led to the establishment of commercial-scale production technology for sophorolipids (ACS-Sophor®) and multiple co-developed patents including P6954548 (novel sophorolipid derivatives). AIST collaboration continues as a key innovation driver for the company.
• Rock Chemical Products Co., Ltd. (ロック化学)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2010Joint development partnership with Rock Chemical Products for livestock feed applications of sophorolipids. ACS and Rock Chemical Products co-developed ACS-Sophor® for use as an emulsifier and feed additive stabilizer. Field tests have been conducted with major pig and egg-laying farming companies in Kyushu and Okinawa.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Givaudan: Global leader in fragrance, beauty, and personal care active ingredients. Competes with ACS in the personal care ingredient space where sophorolipids serve as bio-based, low-irritation surfactants and bioactive ingredients.
• dsm-firmenich: Global nutrition, health, and beauty ingredients company with animal nutrition and personal care divisions. Overlaps with ACS's livestock feed emulsifier (ACS-Sophor) and personal care surfactant (Sophomore) applications at significantly larger scale.
• BASF: World's largest chemical company and ACS's capital and business alliance partner since 2021. BASF has its own bio-based surfactant portfolio and provides global personal care distribution, making it both a partner and a broad incumbent in the same end markets.
• Kaneka Corporation: Large Japanese chemical manufacturer with biosurfactant and bio-based specialty chemical offerings. Overlaps with ACS in fermentation-derived bio-products and serves similar downstream personal care and industrial customers, but at much greater scale and breadth.
• Stepan Company: Major US-based surfactant manufacturer supplying personal care, cleaning, and agricultural markets. While not a sophorolipid specialist, it is a benchmark incumbent competing for the same downstream reformulation opportunities as ACS.
• Croda International: UK-based specialty chemical company with a sizable bio-based personal care and home care ingredient portfolio. Competes with ACS's Sophomore® brand in eco-friendly surfactants for the same global CPG customers.

Direct peers

• MG Intobio: Korean sophorolipid manufacturer producing glycolipid biosurfactants from fermentation for personal care, cleaning, and industrial uses. Directly comparable to ACS as an Asian sophorolipid specialist competing for the same bio-based surfactant customers.
• Evonik Industries: Evonik produces Rheance®, a commercial sophorolipid-based biosurfactant for personal care and home care. It is the closest direct competitor to ACS's Sophomore® line, targeting the same formulators with a glycolipid class produced by fermentation.
• Saraya Co., Ltd. Japanese company developing and commercializing sophorolipid and other glycolipid biosurfactants. Like ACS, Saraya is a Japan-based biotech pursuing bio-based surfactants with overlapping customer targets in cleaning and personal care.

Emerging players

• Holiferm: UK-based startup producing sophorolipid and other glycolipid biosurfactants via fermentation. Comparable emerging-stage specialist targeting the same home and personal care customers as ACS, with partial overlap in sophorolipid chemistry.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/allied-carbon-solutions-co-ltd

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors2 records

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Allied Carbon Solutions