Moutai Steps In, Investing in Synthetic Biology

An investment by a leading baijiu company has come to light.

Recently, Kangweijian Biomedical Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Kangweijian") completed its Series B financing. This round of financing attracted numerous investors, including Orient Fortune Capital, Delian Capital, Puhua Capital, and CDH Investments. Notably, Kweichow Moutai also participated, becoming an important force in this round of financing.

Kangweijian is a platform company centered around biosynthetic technology. This investment is another move by Moutai in the field of synthetic biology. Previously, Moutai had already invested in companies such as Xing Sai Biotechnology and Hongmo Biotechnology, initially constructing an investment map in the field of biological manufacturing. Subsequently, it also plans to cooperate with He's Eye Hospital to establish the Zhaohua Health Fund, focusing on new - generation healthcare, dietary nutrition, and synthetic biology, forming a dual approach of "direct investment + fund layout".

As the leader in the traditional baijiu industry, Moutai's cross - border investment in synthetic biology not only clearly recognizes this high - growth track but also reflects the deep - seated logic of traditional industrial capital actively breaking through business boundaries and seeking transformation and upgrading in the wave of technological change.

Moutai Invested in a Series B Company

Although Kangweijian, the protagonist of this round of financing, was established in 2019 and is a "rising star" in the field of synthetic biology, it has carved out a niche in the industry with its strong capabilities in technology R & D and product implementation.

The official website shows that Kangweijian is a biosynthetic technology platform company dedicated to providing safe and high - quality products and services for the global food, cosmetic raw materials, health food raw materials, pharmaceutical excipients, and animal nutrition industries.

According to public information from Tianyancha, Zeng Qiwen, the company's chairman, is the core figure of the team. Additionally, the team also includes several members such as Liang Bing, Zeng Qiming, and Han Zhongmu. Before this Series B financing, Kangweijian had already completed Series A, Series A+, and Series A++ financings, with institutions such as SDIC Venture Capital, CDH Investments, and Yida Capital participating. The continuous capital injection not only provides financial support for the company's technology R & D and business expansion but also indirectly confirms the market's high recognition of its technology roadmap and development potential.

In terms of core technology, Kangweijian's competitiveness is particularly prominent. Its self - developed ester enzymatic synthesis process technology platform has achieved environmentally friendly production of ascorbyl palmitate, and the annual production capacity of this product has now reached 3,000 tons.

More notably, Kangweijian's technology platform is not a "single - point breakthrough" but has the characteristics of replicability and expandability. Currently, the company has completed the R & D and reserve of multiple high - value - added products based on this platform, including enzymatic production of phytosterol esters, vitamin A palmitate, ascorbyl oleate, ascorbyl linoleate, ascorbyl linolenate, etc. These products cover multiple high - growth fields such as food nutrition fortification, active ingredients in cosmetics, and pharmaceutical excipients.

To further strengthen its technology R & D capabilities, Kangweijian has also established a "industry - academia - research collaborative innovation" cooperation model, setting up joint laboratories with multiple universities and research institutions across the country. On the one hand, it uses the universities' research resources to solve technological problems. On the other hand, it quickly transforms laboratory results into industrial production technologies, providing solutions for different industry applications.

It is understood that this round of financing will provide financial support for Kangweijian to expand its production capacity and optimize R & D. It will also help accelerate the product commercialization process to meet the growing market demand for high - quality biomedical products.

Moutai Has Made Multiple Moves to Increase Investment in Synthetic Biology

Moutai's exploration in the venture capital field can be traced back to 2014. In the early stage, Moutai's investment direction mainly focused on the consumer field, such as investments in consumer - related enterprises like Jiamei Packaging and Liziyuan. This was highly relevant to the company's main business and in line with the market development trend at that time.

In recent years, with changes in the market environment and technological development, Moutai's investment vision has gradually broadened. Since 2023, Moutai has shown a new strategic direction in its investment layout, successively establishing Moutai Zhaohua (Guizhou) Industrial Development Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership) and Moutai Jinshi (Guizhou) Industrial Development Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership). Specifically, the total subscribed scale of both the Moutai Zhaohua Fund and the Moutai Jinshi Fund is 5.51 billion yuan, and Kweichow Moutai contributed 5 billion yuan respectively. That is, Kweichow Moutai will contribute a total of 10 billion yuan by participating in these two industrial funds.

The investment scope of these funds includes fields such as new - generation information technology, biotechnology, new energy, and new materials, indicating Moutai's determination to enter the technology field. In this transformation process, synthetic biology has become one of the key areas that Moutai focuses on. As a traditional fermentation industry, baijiu itself contains many genes of the bio - economy.

This investment in Kangweijian is not Moutai's first attempt in the field of synthetic biology but a "planned and rhythmic" strategic layout. In the past year, Moutai has made frequent investment moves in this track, showing an unprecedentedly active attitude.

In the first half of 2024, Moutai Science and Technology Innovation Fund took the lead, successively completing investments in biological manufacturing enterprises such as Xing Sai Biotechnology and Hongmo Biotechnology. Among them, Xing Sai Biotechnology focuses on the field of single - cell analysis and sorting, aiming to characterize single - cell metabolic phenotype information with the innovative "Ramanome" technology. The Ramanome is expected to become a new type of big data in the biological manufacturing and synthetic biology industries. Hongmo Biotechnology has self - developed human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), which have multiple functions such as antibacterial and antiviral effects.

Moutai's investments in these two companies not only enrich its investment portfolio in the field of synthetic biology but also lay the foundation for it to gain a deeper understanding of the development trends in different sub - fields.

In October of the same year, there was an industrial and commercial change in Taihe Weiye, with Moutai (Guizhou) High - Quality Growth Equity Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership) added as a shareholder. Taihe Weiye is the leader in the domestic protected amino acid product industry and is expected to become an important raw material supplier for polypeptide biological products. As early as November 2023, Moutai Jinshi Fund led a nearly 300 - million - yuan Series A+ financing round for Chengdu Taihe Weiye Biotechnology Co., Ltd.

Moutai's successive increases in investment in the synthetic biology track reflect an important transformation of its investment strategy.

At the 2024 Annual Science and Technology Innovation Work Conference of Moutai Group, Ding Xiongjun, then the Party Secretary and Chairman of the group, mentioned that the bio - economy centered around synthetic biology should be regarded as an important direction for Moutai to develop emerging industries and continuously expand the value chain of emerging industries.

Zhang Deqin, the Party Secretary and Chairman of Moutai Group, clearly stated in a public speech this year that synthetic biology is the key to decoding the laws of life and the "symbiotic code" between the traditional and the future. He said bluntly that the research and protection of the diversity of brewing microorganisms are the keys to Moutai's continuous inheritance and innovation. Moutai will actively embrace synthetic biology technology and actively explore industrial application scenarios.

This statement not only reveals the core reason why Moutai attaches importance to synthetic biology but also points out the direction for Moutai's development in this field.

As the leading enterprise in the domestic baijiu industry, Moutai has accumulated rich microbial resources in its long - term production process. This is Moutai's unique advantage in developing synthetic biology. Through in - depth research and development of these microbial resources and the use of synthetic biology technology, Moutai is expected to achieve breakthroughs in multiple fields.

For example, in the baijiu production process, synthetic biology technology can be used to optimize the structure of the brewing microbial community, improving the quality and output of baijiu. In the health industry, it can be used to develop health foods and pharmaceutical excipients with specific functions, expanding the company's business boundaries. In the environmental protection field, synthetic biology technology can also be used to solve problems such as waste treatment in the baijiu production process, achieving green production.

The Trillion - Dollar Synthetic Biology Track Is on the Verge of Explosion

This time, Moutai's bet on synthetic biology is also in line with the current trend.

From a global perspective, the synthetic biology track has been heating up for many years, becoming a highly - regarded investment destination and innovation high - ground globally. McKinsey once released a report stating that 70% of global chemicals can be produced through synthetic biological manufacturing, and by around 2035, the global output value of synthetic biological manufacturing is expected to reach 2 - 4 trillion US dollars.

In the domestic market, the synthetic biology industry is also showing a trend of rapid growth. The "China Synthetic Biology Industry White Paper 2024" shows that the market scale of this industry soared from 5.3 billion US dollars in 2018 to over 17 billion US dollars in 2023, with an average annual growth rate of 27% in the past five years. It is expected that by 2028, the market scale will reach nearly 50 billion US dollars.

The explosion of the synthetic biology track is driven by policies, technology, and capital. In terms of policies, China has listed synthetic biology as a core direction for future industries. The "14th Five - Year Plan for the Development of the Bio - economy" clearly proposes to promote the integration of biotechnology and information technology. Technologically, breakthroughs in key technologies such as gene editing and high - throughput screening have significantly reduced costs and improved efficiency. The combination of AI and synthetic biology has also accelerated R & D, promoting its transition from the laboratory to industrialization. In terms of capital, in addition to traditional VC/PE, industrial capitals such as Hengrui Medicine and WuXi AppTec have also entered the market, bringing in funds and industrial resources to accelerate the implementation of technologies.

Based on a profound understanding of the development trend of the track, Moutai has continuously bet on synthetic biology. From investing in Hongmo Biotechnology and Xing Sai Biotechnology, leading the investment in Taihe Weiye, to this time investing in Kangweijian, Moutai's investment targets basically cover multiple links in synthetic biology, including upstream raw materials, mid - stream technology platforms, and downstream application products, forming the prototype of a "full - industrial - chain layout".

For Moutai, synthetic biology is not only part of its "cross - border investment" but also the key to achieving its "second growth curve". By laying out in synthetic biology, Moutai can transform its microbial resource advantages into new industrial advantages, transforming from a "leading baijiu company" to a composite enterprise and occupying a more favorable position in future industrial competition.

From a more macro perspective, Moutai's layout is also an epitome of traditional industrial capital embracing technology. Against the backdrop of a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries have become an inevitable trend. As a key technology capable of reconstructing the production methods of traditional industries, synthetic biology naturally becomes an important focus for traditional industrial capital. Moutai's exploration not only opens up a new path for its own development but also provides reference for other leading enterprises in traditional industries - connecting technology through capital and empowering industries through technology to achieve the integration of traditional industries and emerging technologies.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Lieyun Selection". The author is Han Wenjing, and it is published by 36Kr with authorization.