€6.5 million seed round: b2venture and Vorwerk Ventures finance DuDeChem

Berlin — With the common goal of promo­ting sustainable and local chemi­cal and phar­maceu­ti­cal produc­tion in Europe, DuDe­Chem has raised a total of EUR 6.5 million. Vogel Heerma Waitz advi­sed b2venture and Vorwerk Ventures on the finan­cing of DuDe­Chem as part of a seed finan­cing round. Other inves­tors include Front­line, Borski Fund, Auxxo and Push Ventures. The company will use the funds to expand its team of expe­ri­en­ced scien­tists and provide the first product for one of the Euro­pean gene­rics manufacturers.

Dude Chem is mobi­li­zing an asset-poor network of Euro­pean contract manu­fac­tu­r­ers to reshape local, resi­li­ent pharma supply chains. The use of regio­nal capa­ci­ties provi­des an over­view, mini­mi­zes risks and redu­ces depen­dence on outda­ted methods and tech­no­lo­gies. By relia­bly provi­ding sustainable, Euro­­pean-made chemi­cals and avoi­ding logi­sti­cal and poten­ti­ally geopo­li­ti­cal issues (the majo­rity of the world’s active ingre­di­ents come from China and India), Dude Chem is incen­ti­vi­zing play­ers across the value chain and support­ing moder­niza­tion in the region.

With its paten­ted tech­no­lo­gies and produc­tion proces­ses, Dude Chem redu­ces waste by up to 70% and CO2 emis­si­ons by 40% without compro­mi­sing on quality, which impro­ves both its envi­ron­men­tal foot­print and econo­mic compe­ti­ti­ve­ness. At the heart of Dude Chem’s green chemis­try kit and digi­tal plat­form is the opti­miza­tion of work­flows to improve trans­pa­rency, quality and sustaina­bi­lity throug­hout the supply chain. By redu­cing inef­fi­ci­en­cies in deve­lo­p­ment and produc­tion, higher yields, lower costs, tracea­bi­lity and a lower envi­ron­men­tal impact are achieved.

Their envi­ron­men­tally friendly chemi­cal formu­la­ti­ons and synthe­sis opti­miza­ti­ons, in which toxic compounds are repla­ced by clea­ner alter­na­ti­ves, repre­sen­ted a convin­cing value propo­si­tion right from our first cont­acts. During our first visits to the Berlin labo­ra­tory, we were able to see first-hand the commit­ment and inno­va­tive strength of the Dude Chem team. Based on their broad patent port­fo­lio, they have achie­ved signi­fi­cant cost and issue reduc­tions, which have been confirmed by leading phar­maceu­ti­cal compa­nies as custo­mers, under­pin­ning their role. In addi­tion, its asset-light model, which is based on a part­ner network of Euro­pean contract manu­fac­tu­r­ers, offers flexi­bi­lity, scala­bi­lity and support for the local supply chain.

The foun­ders

Dude Chem’s ambi­tion to moder­nize and trans­form the chemi­cal indus­try is largely due to the company’s foun­ding team. Indus­try veterans Sonja, Tino, Henri­ette and Mathis have deca­des of combi­ned expe­ri­ence at leading compa­nies such as Bayer, Lonza and Boeh­rin­ger Ingel­heim in the fields of chemis­try, process engi­nee­ring, AI and data science.

Consul­tant: Vogel Heerma Waitz

Dr. Clemens Waitz, Falko Brüggemann

About Vogel Heerma Waitz

Vogel Heerma Waitz is a Berlin-based law firm specia­li­zing in growth capi­tal, tech­no­logy and media.