Daotong Leads Investment in YuanDong Bio, Betting on Bacterial Nanocellulose to Transform Everyday Life | Daotong News
It leverages cutting-edge synthetic-biology innovations to push everyday products like cosmetics toward safer, more sustainable formulations.
Background
Recently, Guangzhou YuanDong Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "YuanDong Bio") announced the completion of a new funding round, led by Dalton Venture. Leveraging cutting-edge synthetic biology innovations, the company is tackling critical bottlenecks in China's display panel material supply chain while pushing everyday products like cosmetics toward safer, more sustainable formulations.
Bio-manufacturing is an advanced production method that uses living organisms (such as microorganisms, cells, enzymes) or their components to produce materials and deliver services at industrial scale. With its disruptive technical capabilities and green, low-carbon profile, it is penetrating strategic sectors — pharmaceuticals, chemicals, materials, energy, agriculture, and environmental protection — with unprecedented depth and breadth. It serves as a critical lever for connecting innovation chains with industrial chains, driving intelligent, green, and integrated development, and carries immense strategic importance for safeguarding national food security, energy security, supply chain resilience, and achieving green, low-carbon growth.
Inside rows of bioreactors, countless microorganisms work silently — converting ordinary sugars into nanocellulose fibers ten thousand times thinner than a human hair. These tiny fibers, born from "bacterial factories," are quietly reshaping multiple facets of our daily lives.
Against the backdrop of China's 15th Five-Year Plan designating bio-manufacturing as a strategic emerging industry, capital is acutely attuned to opportunities in this space. Recently, Guangzhou YuanDong Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "YuanDong Bio") announced a new funding round led by Dalton Venture. Founded in January 2024, this young company has raised tens of millions of yuan in just over a year. Leveraging cutting-edge synthetic biology innovations, it is tackling critical bottlenecks in China's display panel material supply chain while pushing everyday products like cosmetics toward safer, more sustainable formulations.
With bio-manufacturing gaining momentum from both policy tailwinds and capital infusion, China's indigenous innovation capabilities in this frontier domain are accelerating — and ordinary consumers stand to benefit in tangible ways.
National Strategy: Charting the Course for Bio-Manufacturing
China's 15th Five-Year Plan elevates bio-manufacturing to strategic emerging industry status, explicitly calling for accelerated R&D and industrialization to cultivate new quality productive forces. The plan emphasizes full-chain technology breakthroughs in priority areas including bio-manufacturing, strengthening indigenous control over core technologies.
This strategic positioning provides clear direction and policy backing for industry development. Beyond offering guidance to bio-manufacturing enterprises, it signals that capital, talent, and market resources will flow increasingly toward this sector.
"The clarity of national strategy reinforces our commitment to deep cultivation in synthetic biology," said Jionglin Chen, YuanDong Bio's founder and chairman. This entrepreneur, whose background spans bio-manufacturing, materials science, and engineering, leads a hybrid team integrating synthetic biology, chemical engineering, and commercial operations — working to translate laboratory inspiration into industrial reality. Under this strategic guidance, innovative enterprises like YuanDong Bio now enjoy clearer development pathways and more favorable growth conditions.
Industry Outlook: Bio-Manufacturing Market Poised to Surpass One Trillion Yuan
Industry analysis shows China's bio-manufacturing sector growing at over 20% annually, with projections estimating trillion-yuan scale by 2030. Beyond traditional applications, bio-manufacturing demonstrates vast potential in new materials, healthcare, and environmental protection.
Take bio-based nanocellulose, YuanDong Bio's focus area: downstream applications span display panels, cosmetics, medical dressings, and eco-friendly packaging — collectively representing a domestic market exceeding 100 billion yuan.
"Bio-manufacturing is not merely a technology, but an industrial transformation," noted industry experts. "It represents the shift from a petroleum economy to a bio-economy — a critical arena for future industrial competition."
As technology advances and costs decline, bio-manufacturing products are penetrating from premium to mass markets. Analysts project that consumers will increasingly access higher-quality, environmentally friendly products at more accessible price points.
Capital Continuity: Specialized Investors Position in Bio-Manufacturing
Dalton Venture, as the lead investor in this round, reflects sophisticated capital's strong endorsement of the bio-manufacturing track. "Our investment in YuanDong Bio stems from conviction in the direction and optimism about sector prospects," said Ying Fu, Investment Director at Dalton Venture. "YuanDong Bio exemplifies a cross-disciplinary company — its team combines deep biotechnology expertise with demonstrated execution in materials innovation and commercialization." Dalton Venture's extensive portfolio at the intersection of healthcare and technology will help YuanDong Bio expand application scenarios through industrial resources.
Technical Innovation: "Bacterial Smart Factories" Crack Industrial Bottlenecks
By integrating synthetic biology with artificial intelligence, YuanDong Bio has built a globally leading bacterial nanocellulose production system. Using AI-"trained" engineered strains paired with fermentation processes, they have slashed production cycles from 10 days to 48 hours.
The factory's most remarkable feature is its "recipe": utilizing agricultural waste streams like corn steep liquor and soybean meal to efficiently produce high-value nanocellulose. This approach is not only more environmentally sound than traditional wood extraction but also dramatically reduces costs.
"We are achieving industrial-scale production of high-purity nanocellulose," Jionglin Chen explained. The fermentation-derived material achieves exceptional purity, matching top international standards. In display materials, the critical components in our everyday phones and computer screens will no longer rely entirely on imports — YuanDong Bio offers a new "China solution" for securing the nation's display panel supply chain.
Transforming Daily Life: Moving Beyond Chemical Additives
Black Tech That Lightens the Load on Skin
YuanDong Bio's innovations serve not only high-end industry but are quietly reshaping daily routines. Addressing cosmetics' longstanding dependence on chemical additives, the company has introduced a revolutionary "bio-nano crystalline gel."
This remarkable material features a nanoscale three-dimensional mesh structure. Like a microscopic net, it stably captures oils and suspended particles — replacing conventional chemical emulsifiers in skincare. It also possesses natural preservative properties, allowing formulations with minimal or zero chemical preservatives, significantly reducing allergenic risks.
"It solves the compatibility challenges that have prevented natural preservatives like chitosan from working in formulations, while delivering a silky, moisturizing, premium skin feel," said Zaiman Gao, YuanDong Bio's Chief Operating Officer. "Our goal is to bring bio-manufacturing technology within reach of ordinary people." This ingredient has already entered trial and product development with multiple renowned cosmetics companies. As production scales up, these safe, experience-enhancing bio-based products will reach mass markets at more accessible prices — making "tech skincare" truly attainable.
Future Outlook: More Innovative Materials Entering Everyday Life
With top-level design converging with micro-level corporate breakthroughs, bio-manufacturing is bridging the gap between laboratory and daily life at unprecedented speed. By 2030, projections indicate at least 20% of petroleum-based products will be replaced by bio-based alternatives. Behind this figure stand countless companies like YuanDong Bio, using technological power to improve our lives: from resolving industrial bottlenecks to enhancing quality of life, from securing supply chains to driving green consumption. The greener, more efficient, more sustainable future we envision is already within reach.
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ID: daltonventure
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