Biotech firm gets major European investor
A biotech company that takes seaweed from the Marlborough Sounds and turns it into extracts for cosmetics is on the verge of making it big in Europe.
Blenheim business NZ Extracts, known primarily for transforming grape seeds into extracts for cosmetics, food and supplements, is set to expand into other international markets after securing its first international investor.
A group of European skin care and supplement wholesalers, which covers all 52 European countries, has bought shares in NZ Extracts.
Turner said NZ Venture Partner’s investment would help ‘‘double the size of our production’’ and would allow them to undertake new products and get into new markets.
About three years ago, NZ Extracts started dabbling in seaweed and transforming it into extracts for Eco-Store products.
Turner said they started taking Undaria seaweed, also known as Wakama, from the ropes of mussel farms in the Marlborough Sounds.
‘‘It grows on the rope quite prolifically and it’s a nuisance ... So we have been collecting these byproducts, we run it through our extraction system and we are selling that to cosmetic companies,’’ Turner said.
‘‘It’s amazing what was essentially a pest raw material ... We are processing tonnes and tonnes of this into something that is actually being used in a high value product,’’ he said.
The company transformed all sorts of natural products and byproducts, such as grape seeds, kiwifruit skins, boysenberry and blackcurrant skins, and now seaweed into high-end health and beauty products.
In 2015, NZ Extracts marketing arm, Tuatara Natural Products, launched a weight loss product called Satisfax.
The product was still available and people were still purchasing it, Turner said.
The weight-loss product was made of Marlborough-sourced natural grapes and kiwifruit extracts, the bio-active ingredients slowed down the rate of digestion of food, making people feel full after eating less. Turner hoped the European shareholders would help grow the Satisfax product in the international market.
‘‘What I’m wanting to do with this investment is be able to develop the sales of that in the global market,’’ he said.
NZ Venture Partners was looking to buy shares in a variety of companies around the country, and NZ Extracts was their first.
‘‘NZ Extracts gives us access to high-value ingredients, as well as potential brands for us to feed into our commercial channels,’’ Chomakov said.