CarboCode

About CarboCode

CarboCode is a biotechnology company focused on the large-scale production of human-identical glycosphingolipids and gangliosides, which are crucial components of breast milk. Founded in 2017 by Jorge Santos, Ferenc Horvath, and Györgyi Osztrovszky, the company has its headquarters and scale-up facility in Cantanhede, Portugal, with a dedicated research center in Konstanz, Germany. The founding team combines deep industrial and scientific expertise; CEO Jorge Santos has over 20 years of experience in chemical engineering and fermentation, Ferenc Horvath is also a chemical engineer, and Chief Scientific Officer Györgyi Osztrovszky leads the German research subsidiary.

The company operates on a B2B model, supplying its high-value ingredients to major multinational corporations in the infant nutrition, cosmetics, and dermatology sectors, including Danone, Nestlé, and Abbott. CarboCode's core mission is to address the nutritional gap in infant formulas, which lack the essential gangliosides found in human breast milk that are vital for cognitive development, gut health, and immune function. Its proprietary technology platform integrates biocatalysis, fermentation, and metabolic engineering to overcome previous barriers to producing these complex molecules at an industrial scale and an affordable cost. This breakthrough allows for the synthesis of bio-identical compounds, avoiding the safety risks and heterogeneity associated with traditional extraction from animal sources.

CarboCode has secured significant investment to fuel its growth, including a €15 million Series C funding round in late 2024 led by Iberis Capital. These funds are allocated to scaling production, expanding the scientific team, and navigating the regulatory approval process in key global markets. The company aims to achieve regulatory clearance in the European Union and the United States by 2027, followed by China in 2028. A new industrial factory, set to be operational by 2029, will have an annual production capacity of up to 100 tons of gangliosides, supporting a projected annual turnover of over €100 million.