‘Alternative Plants’ Creates High-quality Cosmetic Compounds from Stem Cells. Insights from Anna Ramata-Stunda, CEO.

Cosmetic companies typically harvest ingredients from wild plants or through conventional agriculture, which can lead to overharvesting and depletion of natural resources. This is particularly problematic for rare or endangered species. Variability in soil quality, climate, and harvesting times can lead to inconsistencies in the quality and potency of extracted ingredients. Furthermore, seasonal climate changes can drastically impact raw material availability, causing supply chain disruptions.

Alternative Plants, a biotechnology startup, creates active cosmetic compounds from plant stem cells to address these issues. Using plant stem cell cultures, Alternative Plants can produce active ingredients without harvesting from the wild. Furthermore, plant cell cultures can be grown year-round in bioreactors, ensuring a stable and reliable supply.

We spoke to their co-founder and CEO, Anna Ramata-Stunda, to better understand their methods and technologies. This interview is part of GreyB’s Scouted series. In this series, we spotlight innovative startups and talk to their founders about how their solutions can revolutionize the industry by solving problems. Readers get insider knowledge on the principal technologies and working principles behind pioneering startups like Bonumose, Better Juice, Axial3D, Skin Gourmet, etc., shared by the CEOs themselves! Explore all those interviews here in text and video format.

Consistency and quality in widely used plants remain a significant challenge. Biotechnology provides a sustainable alternative by ensuring reliable production.

– Anna Ramata-Stunda

Overview: Alternative Plants is Revolutionizing Cosmetic Ingredients Through Biotechnology

Alternative Plants is a biotech company based in Latvia that specializes in producing plant-derived bioactive compounds for the cosmetic industry. Instead of harvesting plants from nature, they use plant cell cultures to create sustainable, high-quality ingredients. Their technology ensures a controlled environment for growing plant cells, leading to consistent quality and potency of the active ingredients. This innovative approach addresses challenges in the cosmetics industry, such as inconsistent quality, pollution, and limited access to rare or endangered plant species.

Watch the whole conversation here.

Here are the highlights from the interview.

What exactly is your technology, and how does it work?

Our technology involves growing plant cells in bioreactors to produce specific bioactive compounds. We take a small sample from a plant and establish a cell line, which we then cultivate under controlled conditions. By manipulating these conditions, we can stress the cells to produce higher concentrations of desired compounds. 

This method allows us to access plant compounds that are typically difficult to obtain in large quantities or from endangered species. It’s a more sustainable and consistent approach compared to traditional plant harvesting or farming.

What are some unique benefits of your ingredients?

Our ingredients offer several advantages. First, they provide consistent quality, which is crucial for cosmetic manufacturers. We can produce the same high-quality ingredients year-round, regardless of seasonal variations that affect traditional plant harvesting.

Additionally, we focus on plants from Northern Europe that have developed unique protective mechanisms due to harsh environmental conditions. These plants produce potent antioxidants, anti-inflammatory molecules, and regenerative compounds valuable in skincare applications. We can harness these beneficial properties in our ingredients, offering cosmetic companies novel and practical options for their products.

What are your plans for expansion?

We’re currently focused on two main areas of growth. First, we’re building partnerships with distributors in various geographical regions. This strategy helps us reach more cosmetic manufacturers and leverage these distributors’ local knowledge and long-standing relationships in their markets.

Secondly, we’re expanding our product portfolio. We’re developing two to three new cell lines, allowing us to offer more ingredients with different bioactivities. We aim to have these new products available within a year, both on our website and potentially in cosmetics.

What challenges have you faced and overcome?

One of our main challenges was scaling up our technology. Each plant cell line is unique and requires slightly different cultivation and scaling protocols. It took time and experimentation to develop effective methods for each line. 

Another challenge is the long sales cycle in the B2B cosmetics industry. It can take up to two years from when we provide a sample to when we receive the first order. This extended timeline can be challenging for a startup, especially regarding funding. We’ve addressed this by focusing on public grants, particularly from the European Union, which has helped finance our R&D activities without giving up equity in the company.

How do you approach patents and intellectual property?

We take a balanced approach to intellectual property. We have patented our first ingredient, which covers the technology for growing the cells and its cosmetic applications. However, we don’t believe every ingredient needs to be patented. We carefully evaluate each case to determine the best protection strategy.

Sometimes, we keep certain aspects of our technology as trade secrets. This is particularly true for complex cultivation processes that would be difficult to prove if someone infringed on a patent. We always conduct a freedom-to-operate analysis before developing new ingredients to ensure we’re not infringing on existing patents. Ultimately, we aim to protect our innovations while being pragmatic about what truly needs patent protection versus what’s better to keep as a trade secret.

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Meet our Interviewer – Vikas Jha, AVP, Solutions at GreyB

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Authored By: Hemanth Shenoy, Market Research