What CIMV does

CIMV (legal name La Compagnie Industrielle de la Matière Végétale) is a privately held French industrial biotechnology company founded in 2000 that develops an organosolv-based lignocellulosic biorefinery process. The technology fractionates non-food agricultural residues — cereal straws, corn stover, sugarcane bagasse, and hardwood — into three intact product streams without degradation: Biolignine™ (a pure, low-molecular-weight linear phenolic oligomer), cellulose pulp bleached without chlorine, and C5 pentose sugar syrups dominated by xylose. Two pilot facilities have been built, in 2006 and 2017, and the underlying process is protected by 14 patent families covering method architecture and the Biolignine™ trademark.

The company's revenue model combines technology licensing to industrial partners with direct sales of the three bio-based outputs. Targeted customer segments are B2B industrial buyers in the chemical industry (green-chemistry applications such as adhesives, polyurethanes, polyesters, phenolic and epoxy resins, and 2G bioethanol), biotechnology (fermentable sugars for white biotechnology), paper manufacturing (chlorine-free pulp substituting hardwood pulp), and animal feed (formaldehyde substitutes enabled by REACH). Distribution is executed via enterprise field sales and direct partnerships with industrial groups and agricultural cooperatives, with biorefinery units intended to be sited near biomass resources to capture logistics and rural-economics benefits.

Operationally, CIMV is headquartered in Neuilly-sur-Seine with an R&D center in Labège, France, and operates with no disclosed parent company, institutional investors, public funding rounds, headcount, or revenue figures. The company has accumulated credibility through the 2010 Prix Pierre Potier and Frost & Sullivan biorefinery innovation awards, publication in international scientific journals, and participation in at least eight European collaborative R&D consortia. Its go-to-market is collaborative and partnership-driven rather than product-led, and commercialization appears to still be at pilot-to-industrialization stage rather than at scaled commercial revenue.

Name

CIMV

Legal name

La Compagnie Industrielle de la Matière Végétale

Website

https://cimv.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CIMV is a privately held French industrial biotechnology company that licenses organosolv lignocellulosic biorefinery technology and sells Biolignine™, chlorine-free cellulose, and C5 pentose syrups derived from agricultural residues to chemical, biotech, paper, and animal-feed industries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Lignocellulosic Biorefinery / Bio-based Chemicals

NAICS

Chemical Manufacturing (325), Ethyl Alcohol Manufacturing (325193)

SIC

Agricultural Chemicals (2870)

akta.pro primary industry

Biorefinery Technology & Contract Processing (fractionation, tolling, scale-up) (IMAMALAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Biochemicals & Bio-based Platform Chemicals (cellulose sugars, lignin derivatives, organic acids) (IMAMALAB), Cellulosic Biofuels & Renewable Fuels (2G ethanol, SAF intermediates) (IMAMALAA), Biorefinery Co-product Recovery, Purification & Separation (Downstream Processing Systems) (EUAAAIAN)

Keywords

• Lignocellulosic biorefinery
• Biomass fractionation
• Organosolv process
• Bio-based chemicals
• Green chemistry

Headquarters

HQ city

Neuilly-sur-seine

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Bioproducts Sales: Sale of three main bio-based products: Biolignine™ for green chemistry (adhesives, polyurethanes, polyesters, phenolic resins, epoxy resins), cellulose for paper and bioethanol 2G, and pentose sugar syrups for biofuels and animal feed.
2. Technology Licensing: Licensing of CIMV biorefinery technology to industrial partners for construction and operation of lignocellulosic biorefinery units.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

CIMV operates a lignocellulosic biorefinery using a patented organosolv fractionation process that converts agricultural residues (cereal straws, corn stover, sugarcane bagasse, hardwood) into three distinct products without degradation: Biolignine™ (a pure linear phenolic polymer for green chemistry), chlorine-free cellulose pulp for paper and 2G bioethanol, and C5 pentose sugar syrups for biofuels, bioproducts and animal feed. The company runs two pilot facilities in France and licenses the biorefinery technology to industrial and agricultural groups for larger-scale deployment near biomass resources.

Product overview

CIMV operates a lignocellulosic biorefinery technology that fractionates whole plant biomass without degradation into three main products: Biolignine™ (a pure, non-degraded linear oligomer phenolic polymer with low molecular weight), cellulose (for paper and glucose production), and C5 pentose syrups (fermentable sugars). The organosolv-based process converts agricultural residues such as cereal straws, corn stover, and sugarcane bagasse into bio-based alternatives to petrochemical products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Biolignine™: Pure, non-degraded linear oligomers with low molecular weight, serving as a base element for manufacturing products made from petroleum refining and transformation.
• Cellulose
• Sirop Pento (Pentose Syrup)

Products and services

• Biolignine™ Pure, non-degraded linear oligomeric phenolic polymer with low molecular weight, produced by CIMV's organosolv fractionation of lignocellulosic biomass. Functions as a direct bio-based substitute for petrochemical phenol in industrial applications including adhesives, green plastics, polyurethanes, polyesters, phenolic resins and epoxy resins. Sold to chemical, biotechnology and green-chemistry buyers.
• Cellulose pulp (chlorine-free) Pulp derived from annual-growth plants (cereal straws, sugarcane bagasse, corn stover, hardwood), bleached without chlorine or chlorinated derivatives, capable of substituting pulp from hardwood. Used for printing/writing paper, coated paper, publishing paper, household paper, and food and pharmaceutical packaging; can also be hydrolyzed into glucose for industrial biomolecule and second-generation biofuel production. Sold to paper manufacturers and bio-refiners.
• Sirops C5 (Pentose Syrup) Sugar syrups composed primarily of C5 sugars, mainly xylose, produced from the pentose fraction of CIMV's organosolv process. Fermentable sugars used for bioethanol production, biomolecules, green chemistry, and as texturing and tanning agents in animal feed — including as a REACH-compliant substitute for formaldehyde (formol). Sold to biofuel producers, white biotechnology companies and animal-feed manufacturers.
• CIMV Biorefinery Technology Licensing Licensing of CIMV's patented organosolv biorefinery technology (14 patent families) to industrial groups, agricultural cooperatives and agri-business partners for the construction and operation of lignocellulosic biorefinery units sited near biomass resources. Includes technology transfer, offtake of Biolignine™, cellulose and pentose syrup outputs, and co-development of bio-based product applications.

Quantifiable outcome

• Eliminates food vs fuel conflict by using non-food plant parts (stalks, stems) instead of grains
• +1 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• BIOCORE (European Collaborative Project)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean BIOCOmmodity REfinery project coordinated by INRA, aims to design and analyze industrial feasibility of a biorefinery converting agricultural and forest residues into 2nd generation biomolecules. CIMV serves as technology and product samples provider.
• European Research Consortium (INNOBITE, BIO-MIMETIC, RENESENG, ADMIT BIO-SuccInovate, 2G BIOPIC, CARBOSURF, LIGNIOX)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCIMV participates in multiple European collaborative R&D projects focused on developing biorefineries and new bio-based products, contributing technology expertise and product samples.
• Industrial GroupscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with industrial groups for the industrialization of the first lignocellulosic biorefinery model. Strategic partners for technology deployment and commercial offtake.
• Agricultural Cooperatives/FilièrescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with agricultural cooperatives and supply chains for biomass sourcing near production units. Provides supplementary income for farmers and biomass suppliers.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Borregaard: Norwegian biorefinery operating commercial-scale lignin specialty chemicals, bioethanol, and vanillin production from lignocellulosic biomass — directly comparable to CIMV's three-product biorefinery model and Biolignine™ market positioning.
• Domtar: North American pulp and paper producer that launched BioChoice lignin — a commercial lignin product for phenol substitution. Directly comparable as a cellulose-pulp producer with a commercial bio-lignin offering competing in the same end-uses.
• Iogen Corporation: Canadian cellulosic ethanol technology developer with enzyme-based biomass conversion platform. Comparable as a focused 2G biofuel technology company competing for similar agricultural-residue-to-fuel partnerships, though Iogen emphasizes enzymes rather than organosolv chemistry.

Broad incumbents

• Clariant (sunliquid): Swiss specialty chemicals incumbent that developed sunliquid cellulosic ethanol technology from agricultural residues. Comparable as a large-scale competitor in 2G lignocellulosic biofuel technology, though Clariant exited cellulosic ethanol commercialization in 2023 — relevant cautionary comparable.
• Stora Enso: European pulp-and-paper major commercializing lignin (Lineo®) extracted via the kraft process. Comparable as an established player monetizing lignin side-streams from cellulose production, similar to CIMV's Biolignine™ strategy.
• UPM Biofuels: Finnish forest-products incumbent producing 2G biofuels (BioVerno) from crude tall oil and exploring biochemicals. Comparable as a large incumbent pursuing lignocellulosic-derived renewable fuels and biochemicals, though at significantly greater scale.

Emerging players

• Anellotech: US-based startup developing catalytic fast pyrolysis to convert biomass into bio-BTX aromatics for plastics. Comparable as an emerging renewable chemicals platform targeting the same petrochemical-substitution value proposition, though using thermochemical rather than organosolv chemistry.
• Renmatix: US-based technology company using supercritical hydrolysis (Plantrose™) to produce cellulosic sugars from biomass. Comparable as a competing lignocellulosic sugar platform targeting the same downstream biochemical and biofuel applications as CIMV's C5 syrups and cellulose streams.
• Bloom Biorenewables: Swiss startup developing bio-based aldehyde chemistry from lignocellulosic biomass, including lignin valorization. Comparable as an emerging player using alternative chemistry to convert plant biomass into bio-based substitutes for petrochemical inputs.

Regional players

• Sekab: Swedish biorefinery company producing cellulosic ethanol and bio-based chemicals from Nordic forestry residues. Comparable as a regional biorefinery with parallel technology and product overlap (cellulosic ethanol, biochemicals), though focused on Nordic feedstock rather than agricultural straw.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cimv

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 CIMV