What ClonBio Group does

ClonBio Group Limited is a Dublin-headquartered, family-owned biorefining enterprise founded in 2012 by Irish entrepreneur Mark Turley. The company operates five wholly-owned subsidiaries across Europe and North America — Pannonia Bio Zrt. in Hungary (the largest single-site grain biorefinery in Europe), Aztalan Bio LLC in Wisconsin (110M gallons annual ethanol capacity, acquired 2022), Pannonia Bio Gas d.o.o. in Slovenia (the country's largest biogas and biomethane producer), Pannonia Green in Serbia (six biogas facilities under development), and Renix in Canada (ion exchange technology). ClonBio processes corn and barley feedstock via enzymatic starch breakdown, fermentation, distillation, and separation into multiple co-product streams including fuel-grade bioethanol, dried distillers' grains with solubles (DDGS), corn oil, barley protein concentrate, corn protein concentrate, dietary fibers, biogas, biomethane, and organic fertilizer. Operations follow a circular economy model where every component of grain is monetized and byproducts are returned to supplying farmers as fertilizer.

The company operates an enterprise B2B sales model selling directly to industrial buyers in fuel/energy, animal feed, aquafeed, pet food, human food ingredients, and agricultural sectors. Go-to-market is direct sales across commodity and specialty ingredient channels, with pricing negotiated on volume and specifications. Technology differentiation rests on a 70+ person in-house R&D team, proprietary processes including the world's first large-scale barley protein extraction plant and corn fiber separation technology (co-developed with Bühler), advanced heat integration that reduced natural gas consumption by 33 MW (winning the 2021 IChemE Global Energy Award), and CO2 capture and storage from fermentation. The business is well-positioned to benefit from renewable fuel mandates, low-carbon fuel standards, and growing demand for plant-based proteins.

Name

ClonBio Group

Legal name

ClonBio Group Limited

Website

https://clonbio.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

ClonBio Group is a family-owned Irish biorefining enterprise operating grain processing plants across Europe and North America, producing ethanol, plant-based proteins, animal feed, biogas, and organic fertilizer for industrial buyers in fuel, feed, food, and agricultural sectors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Dublin

HQ country

Ireland

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Ethanol / Bioethanol: The company produces fuel-grade bioethanol as a climate-friendly substitute for petrol for the transportation sector. Ethanol is also sold to the chemical, cosmetics, and beverage industries. Fuel-grade ethanol constitutes a major revenue stream from the company's biorefinery facilities.
2. Animal Feed (DDGS): Dried distillers' grain with solubles (DDGS) produced from stillage residue is sold as animal feed for cattle, sheep, pigs, and chickens. Corn fiber is also used as animal feed. Additionally, oil extracted from stillage is sold primarily to the poultry industry.
3. Plant Protein Concentrates: Barley protein concentrate with a minimum of 60% protein is sold to aquaculture producers (currently Norway, Scotland, Portugal) and pet food manufacturers. The company plans to expand into the human food market with food-grade protein ingredients.
4. Biogas and Biomethane: Renewable biogas and advanced biomethane are produced through anaerobic digestion. Methane is used to enhance energy efficiency in the company's own production processes or sold as biomethane to customers. Corn fiber is converted into biogas through anaerobic digestion.
5. Soil Nutrition / Organic Fertilizer: Plant-based organic fertilizer produced from the residues of the anaerobic digestion process containing nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. Sold primarily to the same farmers who supply corn to the company, exemplifying the circular economy model.
6. Dietary Fibers and Human Nutrition Ingredients: Corn arabinoxylan and soluble dietary fibers for human nutrition, prebiotics, and dietary fiber products targeting food manufacturers. The company whitepapers address corn arabinoxylan digestibility and gut microbiota effects.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

ClonBio Group is a vertically integrated grain biorefinery group that processes corn, barley, and wheat into a portfolio of co-products including bioethanol, dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS), corn oil, plant-based protein concentrates, biogas/biomethane, and organic fertilizer. The company operates multiple industrial biorefinery facilities across Europe and North America, applying proprietary separation and fermentation technologies to maximize value extraction from each grain kernel.

Product overview

ClonBio Group is a family-owned biorefining enterprise operating a multi-facility, multi-product portfolio centered on grain biorefinery. The company processes corn and barley into a range of products including fuel-grade ethanol, animal feeds (DDGS, corn oil), plant-based proteins (barley protein concentrate, corn protein concentrate), biogas and biomethane, and organic fertilizers. The group operates through five subsidiaries: Pannonia Bio Zrt. in Hungary (the world's most advanced grain biorefinery), Aztalan Bio LLC in Wisconsin (110 million gallons annual ethanol capacity), Pannonia Bio Gas in Slovenia (largest biogas/biomethane producer), Pannonia Green in Serbia (six biogas facilities under development), and Renix (ion exchange technology company in Canada). The operations follow a circular economy model where every component of grain is utilized to maximize value.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Bioethanol
• Dried Distillers Grains with Solubles (DDGS)
• Corn Oil
• Barley Protein Concentrate
• Plant-Based Organic Fertilizer
• Biogas and Biomethane
• Corn Protein Concentrate
• Pet Food Ingredients
• Aquafeed Ingredients
• Corn Arabinoxylan / Dietary Fibers

Quantifiable outcome

• Ethanol reduces transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions by over 70% compared to conventional petrol
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• BühlercoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2017Bühler collaborated with Pannonia Bio to develop and build a corn fiber separation plant on site — the first of its kind in the world. Bühler also supplied solutions for the barley protein concentrate plant's dry processing (intake, cleaning, handling, removal of foreign particles, and milling). Bühler applied 160+ years of milling experience and developed the optimal milling process at their Application & Training Center in Uzwil to produce the right flour for Pannonia Bio's protein extraction requirements. The partnership enabled the world's first large-scale industrial plant for gaining high-value plant-based proteins from barley.
• HÉTFA Research InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHÉTFA Research Institute published an ex-ante analysis on the macroeconomic impacts of Pannonia Bio, assessing the economic, social, and environmental contributions of the biorefinery to the Hungarian economy.
• RenixcoreTechnology or IntegrationRenix is an award-winning ion exchange tech company that joined the ClonBio Group. Based in London, Canada in the agricultural and industrial heartland of Southwestern Ontario, Renix provides sustainable, efficient, and cost-effective ion exchange solutions that complement the Group's biorefinery technology portfolio.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Cargill: Cargill is a global agribusiness with grain processing, animal feed, and bioindustrial operations. Operates across many of the same value chain stages as ClonBio but at vastly greater scale and across a much broader product portfolio.
• Bunge Global SA: Bunge is a global agribusiness and food company with grain origination, oilseed processing, and bioenergy operations. Overlaps with ClonBio's grain-to-product value chain but operates at much larger scale and broader geographic scope.
• ADM (Archer Daniels Midland): ADM is a global agribusiness giant operating grain origination, ethanol (ADM is one of the largest US ethanol producers), animal nutrition, and plant protein businesses. Broader portfolio but directly overlapping grain biorefinery and ingredient activities.

Direct peers

• Green Plains Inc. Green Plains is a US-focused ethanol producer that has explicitly pivoted toward higher-value plant protein and ingredient extraction (Green Plains Protein, Fluid Quip Technologies). Highly comparable to ClonBio's strategy of extracting plant proteins from the biorefinery value chain.
• POET: POET is the largest US ethanol producer, operating a network of grain biorefineries producing ethanol, DDGS, and corn oil from corn. Closest direct comparison to ClonBio's Pannonia Bio and Aztalan Bio operations, with a similar multi-product biorefinery model at scale.
• Tereos: Tereos is a French sugar beet and grain cooperative producing ethanol, starch, sweeteners, and proteins. Closest European peer to ClonBio's grain-to-multiple-products model, with comparable circular biorefinery operations.
• CropEnergies: CropEnergies is a leading European bioethanol producer (Südzucker subsidiary) producing fuel ethanol and protein co-products from grain. Directly comparable European bioethanol producer with similar feedstock and co-product portfolio.
• Südzucker: Südzucker is Europe's largest sugar producer and a major bioethanol producer via its CropEnergies subsidiary. Comparable in its multi-product grain/sugar-to-ethanol-and-protein approach and as a major European agricultural processor.

Others

• Novozymes: Novozymes (now part of Novonesis) is a global enzyme supplier critical to grain biorefinery operations, including starch hydrolysis and fermentation. Does not compete with ClonBio but provides the enabling enzyme technology underpinning its grain-to-ethanol and protein processes.

Emerging players

• Aemetis: Aemetis is a US-based renewable fuels and bioenergy company developing low-carbon ethanol and renewable diesel. Smaller scale than ClonBio but pursues a comparable grain-to-renewable-fuels strategy with carbon-reduction technology positioning.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/clonbio-group-limited

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

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 ClonBio Group