While Geltor’s Series A round was more about going from the precommercial stage to the commercial stage, the Series B round will focus on helping more companies build sustainable products.

Currently, its ingredients are used in moisturizers, eye creams, masks and haircare products by brands available at Ulta Beauty, Sephora, Target and Amazon.

"[Science is] allowing beauty brands to hone original and optimised plant-based, animal-free formulas... Recognising the shift in consumer mindset around animal-derived products, Geltor is using synthetic biology to produce high-performance, animal-free collagen."

Moving from the land to the lab, biotechnologies are increasingly impacting the production of future beauty ingredients. Biotech company Geltor offers vegan collagen technologies specifically crafted for skincare ingredient applications.

Using designer microbes at industrial scale has been a method of cosmetics and personal care ingredient production for over a decade. And the promise of biotech production is often cleaner, more sustainable, and more efficacious when compared to those sourced from petrochemicals and when compared to those sourced directly from cultivated or wild plant and animal sources.

More and more of us are striving to make purchases that are in line with our personal values, whether it’s to use more sustainable ingredients, reduce pollution, or avoid animal cruelty. So when we consider buying that vanilla cupcake, that snow parka, or even that mushroom leather purse, many of us are asking ourselves: Will my choice help make the world a better place?