ArchiMed buys control of Brazilian biotech Genetica in first Latin America deal
What's the deal? French impact fund ArchiMedDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has acquired a majority stake in GeneticaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → Bioscience, a 23-year-old biotech based in Chapecó, Santa Catarina. The buyout, announced in October 2026, marks the healthcare-focused manager's first investment in Latin America. Terms were not disclosed.
What does Genetica do? It makes biological products from microorganisms — bacteria, yeasts, and fungi — used to treat wastewater from large industries, including BRFDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, JBSDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Minerva, and VigorDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The products break down organic matter, fats, and oils that traditional chemicals leave behind, cutting treatment times from over a month to several weeks.
What's the endgame? ArchiMed, which manages €8 billion in assets, wants to turn Genetica into a global biotech platform, taking its technology to the US and Europe. The three Brazilian founders — Anderson Cácio Bernardi, Ivan Sganderla, and Reginaldo Sganderla — stay on as partners running the operation.
Why ArchiMed? "Not because they offered the biggest cheque or valuation, but because they can help us with this dream of internationalising the company," Anderson told Brazil Journal (translated from Portuguese). The deal, entirely secondary, closed a process that ran about two years.
What's next? Genetica plans to spend the next 12 months expanding in Brazil, where it remains concentrated in the south, then move abroad. The US comes first, targeting the same large-industry wastewater market it leads at home; Europe follows, with a focus on biogas production.
Anderson sees room to grow. "The American market is twice the size of Brazil's in treatment plants, and the tickets are 10x bigger," he said, citing exchange rates and a less mature field. The company expects revenue of around US$25.6M this year.
The signal: The deal shows European impact capital reaching into Latin America's industrial biotech space, backing a profitable, founder-led business with ambitions well beyond Brazil.
Read more: braziljournal.com
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
