Netherlands-based startup Triple Bio has emerged from stealth with a lipid-based feed additive platform (RumeNRG) designed both to enhance existing methane inhibitors and redirect hydrogen in cattle rumen toward more productive fermentation pathways, potentially boosting milk yield and reducing methane emissions.
The firm, which has raised just over €1.5 million ($1.7 million) from backers including Nucleus Capital, Positron Ventures and Climate Club, was founded by Paris-based climate tech venture studio Marble last year and brings together a team with expertise in biotechnology and ruminant science.
CSO Tracy Nevitt PhD (microbiologist) and CTO Bart Tas, PhD (animal scientist) previously worked at livestock methane reduction startup Mootral; CCO Tom Stevens is an experienced dairy industry exec with 14 years at dairy giant Hoogwegt on his resumé; and CEO Peter Rowe, PhD, founded gas fermentation startup Deep Branch.
In the rumen, microbes break down carb-rich plant material and generate hydrogen and carbon dioxide, which another set of microbes called methanogens then use to produce methane, a potent greenhouse gas belched out by cows.
Triple Bio’s lipid-based tech platform, RumeNRG, is designed to mimic some properties of the cell membranes of methanogens.
Lipid chemistry underpins two approaches
While its two formulations currently perform different functions, “In essence, we’re using the same lipid chemistry in different ways,” Rowe told AgFunderNews.
“One is as a delivery system for existing methane inhibitors and the other is as a standalone system designed to influence hydrogen flow within the rumen.”
👉 Methane reduction (RumeNRG-PL): In the near term, Triple Bio is focused on improving existing methane inhibitors such as bromoform by encapsulating them in specialized lipid formulations that protect the active ingredients from degradation in the rumen.
This would potentially enable partners already in the enteric methane reduction space to significantly lower required doses. It could also broaden applications to a wider range of feeding regimens because the active ingredients are released more gradually.
“With one known methane inhibitor, by encapsulating it, we’re able to get a 500-fold reduction in the dose that’s required [to achieve the same levels of methane reduction],” Rowe claimed. “We can stabilize the products, use far less to save money, but also address safety concerns around dosing and thresholds.”
👉 Productivity benefits (RumeNRG-Mx1): Triple Bio is also developing standalone lipid-based feed additives to influence how hydrogen is distributed within the rumen, boosting feed efficiency and milk yield, with the longer-term aim of enabling methane reduction as well.
Here, said Rowe, “We use the same technology but modify the formulation. What we assume is happening with these is that the formulations interact with free hydrogen in the rumen the same way methanogen membranes would: they accumulate hydrogen. This makes it easier for bacteria [in the rumen] to access the energy from the hydrogen, allowing them to produce more nutrients.”
In vitro testing in model rumen simulations using rumen fluid from dairy cows showed the firm’s best-performing formulations boosted volatile fatty acid (VFA) production by 28%, which modeling suggests could translate into 5-10% increases in milk yield, although this still needs to be backed up by trials in live animals, stressed Rowe.
“You’re basically putting the same diet in and getting much more product out, and that’s where you can deliver a big return on investment for the farmer.”
While methane reduction alone can potentially generate sustainability premiums or carbon credits, farmers are more likely to adopt products that directly impact the bottom line through increased productivity, he added.
Inside the rumen
Notably, while most livestock methane-reduction companies seek to block methanogens, Triple Bio is taking a slightly different approach, said Rowe.
“Methanogens play an essential role in the rumen. They’ve co-evolved with ruminants and they’re there for a reason: you need to maintain low hydrogen levels in the rumen for the bacteria to be happy. If those levels go too high, then they’re not happy.”
Triple Bio’s approach doesn’t rely on completely suppressing methanogens, but instead seeks to make hydrogen “more bioavailable to fermentative bacteria that produce most of the metabolic energy the cattle utilize,” said Rowe.
From invitro tests to live-animal trials
Triple Bio is preparing to move from in-vitro rumen simulations into live-animal studies later this year.
One trial will assess an encapsulated methane inhibitor (RumeNRG-PL) and the other will test a formulation designed to improve productivity (RumeNRG-Mx1).
The upcoming animal trials are intended as proof-of-concept studies ahead of a larger funding round planned for next year, which would support broader regulatory and validation work needed for commercialization.
According to Rowe, while animal trials are essential, in vitro data are very encouraging: “If you can get a 3, 4, 5% increase in volatile fatty acids, that would already be regarded as promising and worth taking into in vivo studies. We saw a 28% increase and everyone basically fell off their chairs.
“But of course, we need to do in vivo studies to get more detail on feed conversion ratio, palatability, and these kinds of factors that you need actual cows to determine, rather than just looking at the digestive system in isolation.”
Manufacturing and scale-up
On manufacturing and scale-up, Triple Bio is not relying on a novel fermentation process or exotic raw materials, but sourcing relatively common lipids already produced at industrial scale by large chemical manufacturers and used in products ranging from vitamins to personal care ingredients, said Rowe.
The core innovation, he said, lies less in producing the lipids themselves and more in how they are formulated into structures that mimic aspects of methanogen cell membranes.
The technical risk is therefore primarily around proving biological efficacy in the rumen rather than inventing or scaling a new manufacturing platform from scratch, he claimed.
The holy grail
According to Rowe, the longer-term ambition is to optimize the standalone lipid system (RumeNRG-Mx1) so that it can eventually deliver both productivity gains and methane reductions of up to 50% without relying on loaded methane inhibitors.
“Ultimately, we may not even need to load [the lipids] with methane inhibitors if we carry on pushing the optimization work with RumeNRG-Mx1. This is our holy grail. There are no guarantees we will be able to get to this, although we’re confident that we can.”
He added: “What we’re planning to do over the next couple of years is to try and converge those two different products into a single line capable of both meaningfully boosting productivity and reducing methane. That’s our North Star. At the moment, we’re well on our way there, but with two separate formulations.”
Further reading:
ArkeaBio raises $7m, hires Vence cofounder to accelerate vaccine for livestock methane reduction
Provectus Algae nets fresh funds to scale methane reduction seaweed tech platform
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