France-headquartered Solabia Group has acquired Algatech Ltd., an Israel-based biotech company specialising in the development, cultivation and commercialisation of ingredients delivered from microalgae for the food supplement, food and cosmetic markets around the world.
Founded in 1998 and located in the Arava desert in southern Israel, Algatech is one of the very few companies in the world to have perfected commercial-scale production of microalgae and their derivatives. Over the past two decades, the company has grown to become one of the biotech business in the nutraceuticals sector, owning one of the world’s largest photobioreactor facilities. Located in Israel’s Arava Desert, the eco-friendly facility benefits from a stable climate, high year-round light intensity and clean, unpolluted air, allowing to cultivate algae in over 600 km of greenhouse-like glass tubes according to a process operated entirely on renewable energy.
Algatech has complete oversight and control of its value and supply chains - from research, science, IP and cultivation to product development, testing and marketing - and can deliver tailored end-to-end solutions to its customers. Algatech currently exports to more than 35 countries worldwide, serving leading brands across the nutrition, cosmetic and food and beverage industries. The company has achieved a high double-digit top line growth over the last several years.
“Algatech’s pioneering R&D, impressive manufacturing facilities, market leading product portfolio and established customer base brings the opportunity for Solabia to be present in both fields of macroalgae and microalgae whose futures are very promising. Following our acquisition of Algues & Mer in 2016, this investment will allow us to further strengthen our position in the nutrition and food supplement markets. We are looking forward to working with Algatech and its accomplished team to accelerate the growth of its current product portfolio, as well as to develop new algae-based products for the cosmetics and pharmaceuticals industries,” commented Gérard Josset, Chief Executive Officer of Solabia Group.
