What AGAE Technologies does

AGAE Technologies, LLC is a privately held specialty biotechnology company founded in May 2011 in Corvallis, Oregon, that manufactures rhamnolipid biosurfactants via a proprietary, trade-secret fermentation platform developed over more than 15 years of R&D. The platform integrates microbial fermentation, downstream processing, purification, and decolorization, and in September 2022 achieved record rhamnolipid yields at the company's lowest production cost to date; in October 2022 it extended the platform to HAA, the direct biosynthetic precursor to rhamnolipids.

The commercial portfolio spans a bulk industrial grade (R90, 85–90% purity), a family of high-purity specialty grades differentiated by mono- vs. di-rhamnolipid dominance and decolorization (R95 and dR95 series at 95% purity), and a set of single-congener-dominant analytical standards defined by molecular weight (R95M476/504/530/532 and R95D622/650/678). AGAE sells these ingredients direct-to-customer through its Shopify storefront and, since 2012, through Sigma-Aldrich as authorized global distributor; bulk packaging (1 kg, 5 kg, 25 kg, 1000 kg, and 25%/50% solutions in drums and totes) and quote-based retainer contracts are available. The company also markets the MayLū consumer sub-brand of rhamnolipid-formulated personal care products (face wash, body wash, hand soaps), relaunched direct-to-consumer in 2024 with wholesale and private-label channels opened.

In February 2025 AGAE moved from U.S. pilot operations to global industrial-scale supply with the launch of a full-scale rhamnolipid production plant in Asia, described in industry coverage as Asia's largest. The company self-describes as a small team (1–10 employees), has disclosed only one funding round ($100,000 in April 2018), and reports no revenue.

Name

AGAE Technologies

Legal name

AGAE Technologies, LLC

Website

https://agaetech.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

AGAE Technologies is a privately held Oregon biotech that manufactures high-purity rhamnolipid biosurfactants via proprietary fermentation, selling ingredient grades to researchers and industrial buyers direct and via Sigma-Aldrich, with an Asia-based industrial plant launched in 2025.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Corvallis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Direct rhamnolipid ingredient sales: Unit-priced B2B/B2R sales of rhamnolipid grades (R90, R95 series, decolorized variants) and HAA precursor via own Shopify storefront and via authorized distributor Sigma-Aldrich. Bulk packaging options (1 kg, 5 kg, 25 kg, 1000 kg; 25%/50% solutions in totes and drums). Discounted pricing available for retainer and volume customers.
2. Direct-to-consumer personal care products (MayLū brand): Retail sales of rhamnolipids-based personal care products (Natural Face Wash, Body Wash, Hand Soap, Light-foaming Hand Soap) under the MayLū brand through the AGAE storefront; relaunched for D2C in 2024 after a multi-year pause.
3. Wholesale and private label personal care: Open to wholesale or private label opportunities for rhamnolipid-formulated personal care products following the 2024 D2C relaunch.
4. Custom/quote-based industrial orders: Quote-based orders for custom rhamnolipids, large-volume packaging, and retainer contracts; AGAE explicitly reserves rights to discontinue products and impose quantity limits.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Core offering

AGAE Technologies manufactures and supplies high-purity rhamnolipid biosurfactant ingredients in bulk, specialty, decolorized, and single-congener grades, along with the HAA biosurfactant precursor, for use across cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, enhanced oil recovery, environmental remediation, fire safety, and analytical standards. The company also operates the MayLū direct-to-consumer personal care brand formulated with its own rhamnolipid ingredient, with wholesale and private-label capabilities.

Product overview

AGAE Technologies' offering is a unified, ingredient-focused portfolio built around a single core technology platform: large-scale fermentation-based manufacturing of natural rhamnolipid (RL) biosurfactants, anchored by a proprietary, trade-secret manufacturing platform developed over 15+ years. The core product line is a graded family of rhamnolipid ingredients spanning one bulk/industrial grade (R90, 85–90% purity), a set of high-purity specialty grades differentiated by mono- vs. di-rhamnolipid dominance and decolorization (R95Md, R95Dd, R95M90, R95D90, dR95Md, dR95Dd, dR95M90, dR95D90, all 95% purity), and a set of single-congener-dominant specialty grades defined by molecular weight (R95M476, R95M504, R95M530, R95M532, R95D622, R95D650, R95D678). Adjacent to the rhamnolipid core, AGAE also commercializes HAA (3-(3-hydroxyalkanoyloxy)alkanoate), the direct biosynthetic precursor to rhamnolipids, as a related biosurfactant line with its own application set. The MayLū sub-brand sits on top of the rhamnolipid platform as AGAE's consumer-facing line of rhamnolipid-formulated personal care products (face wash, body wash, hand soaps). Distribution is direct-to-customer via the AGAE Shopify storefront, with Sigma-Aldrich listed as a long-standing distribution partner since 2012.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• MayLū: Natural rhamnolipid-based personal care product line including Natural Face Wash, Natural Body Wash, Natural Hand Soap, and Natural Light-foaming Hand Soap.
• MayLūClean

Products and services

• R90 Rhamnolipid (Catalog No. 7901) Partially purified, 85–90% purity rhamnolipid in solid/granular form (also offered as 25% and 50% solutions in 55 gal drums and 275 gal totes). Designed for diverse industrial applications including home care, industrial cleaning, agriculture, oilfield use, enhanced oil recovery (EOR), fire suppression, and environmental remediation; functions across broad pH, temperature, and salinity ranges.
• R95Md Rhamnolipid (Catalog No. 6301) Solid/granular 95% purity rhamnolipid with mono-rhamnolipids dominant. Targeted at biotechnology and molecular biology applications as an enzyme activity enhancer, and at analytical standards (HPLC, LC-MS, MS, NMR) plus cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and advanced formulations requiring high purity and mono-rhamnolipid preference.
• R95Dd Rhamnolipid (Catalog No. 3301) Solid/granular 95% purity rhamnolipid with di-rhamnolipids dominant. Suited for cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and analytical-standard applications where di-rhamnolipid preference and high purity are required.
• R95D90 Rhamnolipid (Catalog No. 3901) Solid/granular 95% purity rhamnolipid that is 85–90% di-rhamnolipid dominant, fully water-soluble at working concentrations of 0.001%–1%. Positioned for high-end cosmetics, personal care, pharmaceuticals, and formulation optimization where di-rhamnolipid specificity is required.
• R95M90 Rhamnolipid (Catalog No. 6901) Solid/granular 95% purity rhamnolipid that is 85–90% mono-rhamnolipid dominant, fully water-soluble at 0.001%–1%. Designed for high-end cosmetics, personal care, pharmaceuticals, and formulation-optimization use cases requiring mono-rhamnolipid specificity.
• dR95Md Decolorized Rhamnolipid (Catalog No. 6302) Decolorized version of R95Md: solid/granular 95% purity, mono-rhamnolipids dominant. Suited for biotechnology, molecular biology, analytical standards, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals where a colorless mono-rhamnolipid-dominant high-purity ingredient is required.
• dR95Dd Decolorized Rhamnolipid (Catalog No. 3302) Decolorized version of R95Dd: solid/granular 95% purity, di-rhamnolipids dominant. Suited for cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and analytical applications where a colorless di-rhamnolipid-dominant high-purity ingredient is required.
• dR95M90 Decolorized Rhamnolipid (Catalog No. 6902)

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• BASF: World's largest chemical company with established biotech and biosurfactant offerings (e.g., Plantacare, sophorolipid collaborations). Competes with AGAE in home care, personal care, and industrial cleaning surfactants, and dwarfs AGAE on capital, scale, and customer relationships.
• Stepan Company: Major US-based surfactant manufacturer serving personal care, cleaning, and agricultural chemical markets. Comparable to AGAE as a surfactant supplier into overlapping end markets, though anchored in petrochemical rather than bio-based chemistry.
• Croda International: Global specialty ingredients supplier to personal care, pharma, and crop care markets. Comparable to AGAE in the personal care and pharmaceutical excipient space, and a likely customer or competitor for rhamnolipid-based formulations, but with much broader portfolio.
• Solvay: Global specialty chemicals and surfactants producer with strong positions in home and personal care surfactants. Comparable to AGAE in shared home/personal care end markets but operates at vastly larger scale and broader product portfolio.
• Evonik Industries: Global specialty chemicals company with a biosurfactants and biotech ingredients portfolio (e.g., sophorolipids via its biotech platform). Comparable to AGAE as a competitor in fermentation-based specialty surfactants for personal care and industrial markets, but at vastly larger scale and broader portfolio.

Emerging players

• AmphiStar: Belgian startup producing amphiphilic star-shaped biosurfactants from sugar-based feedstocks for personal care and industrial applications. Comparable to AGAE as an early-stage fermentation-based biosurfactant challenger targeting personal care.
• GlycoSurf: US-based startup producing glycolipid biosurfactants (e.g., mannosylerythritol lipids) for cosmetics and cleaning applications. Comparable to AGAE as a small fermentation-based biosurfactant producer in adjacent glycolipid chemistry serving similar end markets.
• BioFuture (rhamnolipid-focused firms): Other rhamnolipid-focused producers such as Synthezyme and small EU/US academic spinouts attempting commercial rhamnolipid production. Comparable to AGAE as direct rhamnolipid competitors, generally at earlier stage with less integrated manufacturing.

Direct peers

• Holiferm: UK-based biotech producing sophorolipid biosurfactants via fermentation for personal care and industrial cleaning. Directly comparable to AGAE as a fermentation-based biosurfactant producer targeting the same green-chemistry substitution opportunity, though focused on sophorolipids rather than rhamnolipids.
• Locus Fermentation Solutions: US-based biosurfactant producer (sophorolipids) with applications in agriculture, oil & gas, and personal care. Comparable to AGAE as a fermentation-based specialty biosurfactant supplier serving overlapping end markets including EOR and agriculture.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors

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 AGAE Technologies