Advanced biomanufacturer, Cauldron Ferm, has raised $19 million (US$13.25m) in a Series A2 priced round led by Main Sequence Ventures, with participation from Horizons Ventures, SOSV, and NGS Super.
Founded in 2022, Cauldron has rapidly progressed from early validation to commercial proof points. The company has developed proprietary technology to improve bioprocess efficiency, with its continuous hyper-fermentation platform.
Biomanufacturing uses living cells as programmable factories, where bio-engineered microbes convert simple inputs like sugars into valuable products. Cauldron’s key advantage is keeping these microbes in a highly productive steady state and running processes continuously for long periods. This increases output while significantly lowering production costs, helping bioproducts compete with conventional industrial alternatives.
The company has previously completed funding rounds raising $10.5 million in 2023, and a further $9.5 million in 2024.
Cauldron was one of the first recipients of the federal government’s Industry Growth Program (IGP) in August 2024, granted $4.3 million through the commercialisation and growth stream. The company also announced in October 2024 that it was being supported by the Queensland government through its Industry Partnership Program (IPP) to develop a precision fermentation contract manufacturing facility in Mackay.
In June 2025, the World Economic Forum named Cauldron a Technology Pioneer for its potential to reshape manufacturing, the only Australian company in the 100 start-ups selected from 28 countries, and one of only three working on the future of food. Cauldron was also named on Fast Company’s 2026 list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies.
Cauldron co-founder and CEO, Michele Stansfield, said for biomanufacturing to compete in industrial sectors, bioproducts have to deliver on costs, scale, and quality.
“Bioprocess innovation is how we get there,” said Stansfield.
“We’re honoured to be backed by a dedicated group of experienced investors and proud to be recognised as one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies. This milestone reflects the impact of our platform at a time when governments and corporations are urgently seeking competitive bio-based solutions to address supply chain pressure.”
With global supply chains remaining fragile, Cauldron’s continuous production technology could enable production of critical inputs across industries at the costs and volumes required for mainstream adoption.
The company has demonstrated the impact of hyper-fermentation for clients commercialising bio-based food ingredients, chemicals, and nutraceuticals – the first to demonstrate industrial-scale continuous fermentation for synthetic biology strains at 10,000-litre scale.
The new capital will enable Cauldron to meet growing demand from governments and corporations investing in biomanufacturing infrastructure. To accelerate the scale up of Cauldron’s technology for commercial production, the company is working with corporate partners to evaluate retrofitting existing facilities to deploy hyper-fermentation at partner sites. Cauldron has also secured non-dilutive government grants in Australia and the US to support expansion of Cauldron’s demo-scale operations in Orange, NSW and planning for industrial-scale production.
Main Sequence Ventures partner, Phil Morle, said Cauldron is proving that biology can run continuously, predictably, and at the volumes global supply chains demand.
“Hyper-fermentation closes the gap between breakthrough strains and reliable, cost-competitive production. As long-term deep tech investors – and Asia Pacific's largest dedicated deep tech venture firm – we see this as a systemic industrial transformation,” said Morle.
“In a market distracted by AI hype cycles, we’re backing the hard, physical work of scaling biology. That’s what builds enduring companies, and it’s why we believe Cauldron is at the forefront of making bioindustrial manufacturing commercially inevitable.”
