Givaudan acquires 48% stake in Nanovetores encapsulation deal to bolster “fast-growing active beauty”
27 Jan 2022 --- In a bid to upgrade its clean cosmetic formulations, Givaudan is investing in Nanovetores Group with a 48% stake in the company.
The share in the company is being sold to Givaudan by The Criatec Fund, a Brazilian investment fund.
Givaudan is a multinational manufacturer of active cosmetic ingredients and fragrances in beauty and personal care, while Nanovetores is a Brazilian company developing nano and microencapsulated active ingredients.
The acquisition “fits with our 2025 strategy to expand our Active Beauty business, one of the fastest-growing at Givaudan,” says Maurizio Volpi, president of fragrance and beauty.
“Nanovetores will bring complementary expertise in vectorization and encapsulation of active cosmetic ingredients,” he adds.
No financial of this deal have been disclosed.
Nanovetores offer encapsulation for a range of award-winning ingredients sold to beauty brands.
Synergies in clean beauty
In terms of synergies, both companies “have very complementary innovation capabilities” in the sphere of active ingredients, adds Dr. Betina Giehl Ramos and Ricardo Ramos, Nanovetores founders.
The Brazilian company offers technologies using “less actives with better efficacy, contributing to clean cosmetic formulations in skin care, hair care, personal care and makeup, which our customers are increasingly interested in,” explains Laurent Bourdeau, head of active beauty, Givaudan.
Maurizio agrees that Nanovetores provides “valuable know-how in developing active ingredients in the most sustainable way.”
Exploring active ingredients
Givaudan’s existing technologies of extracting active ingredients include blue biotechnology (from oceans), green fractions (botanical), green biotechnology (plant-based) and white biotechnology (micro-organisms and biocatalysts for fermentation/bioconversion). 
Givaudan has over 181 locations worldwide, with over 77 production sites.
On fermentation, Seppic ferments bilberries to produce edible polyphenols (stronger than vitamin C and E), following beauty-from-within – pegged as a mega-trend by Innova Market Insights. Meanwhile, Laboratoire PYC stabilizes prolyl hydroxylase molecules (enzyme) used in its collagen in supplements.
Furthermore, Nanovetores has already developed an extensive list of stabilized active ingredients, such as oils, botanicals, and acids to be used on the face, body, hair, and fragrances.
Some offered Nano acids include hyaluronic acid (skin firmness and moisturizing), glycolic acid (anti-aging and skin rejuvenation), salicylic acid (acne treatment and exfoliant) and kojic acid (whitening and anti-aging). Innova Market Insights also finds that hyaluronic acid is one of the key ingredients in the rising beauty-from-within market.
Nanovetores follows the green chemistry principles for manufacturing and product design. Some examples include using water-base (free from organic solvents) and pursuing high quality and sustainable standards.
Role of bacteria in beauty
Givaudan’s applied microbiomics is seen as a breakthrough in cosmetics. It researches the microflora (healthy bacteria) on skins to develop molecules that are only activated upon application on the skin – in contact with the skin’s microflora.
The company has already been using biotechnology to create better microbiome-friendly ingredients such as chronoglow, zanthalene and sericoside.
Dermala is another company delving into the microbial world and has received a patent for using the microbiome on the skin of guts to slow down aging.
Edited by Venya Patel
