Press release 24.08.2026
Danish industrial biotech company NorFalk has raised an investment round to bring its bio-based products to market. The company’s first products outperform the market standard derived from petrochemicals, palm oil or palm kernel oil.
Surfactants, emulsifiers, and rheology modifiers are in almost everything we use in a day, and nearly all of them are made from petrochemicals or tropical oils. Bio-based alternatives exist, but they have been too weak, too expensive, or both.
NorFalk has spent four years working on that problem. “As a chemical and biotech engineer, you have an obligation to make the world a better place. You have the background and the knowledge. It is the bare minimum”, says Kasper Falkenberg, CEO and Co-founder of NorFalk. Today the company announces an investment round, taking its total funding past EUR 5 million since incorporation in 2022.
NorFalk produces bio-based ingredients through their modular biocatalysis platform: an enzyme turns vegetable oil and sugar into new molecules. No petrochemicals, no palm oil or palm kernel oil. The company’s first products are among the mildest ingredients tested while matching conventional benchmarks on performance, a combination the industry has not seen before.
The timing is not incidental. Regulatory restrictions are increasing the requirements in the market and deforestation rules are tightening around palm-based ingredients. Companies like Unilever, P&G and L’Oréal have all committed publicly to reformulating their products to meet these new requirements.
Customers first, chemistry second
NorFalk was founded in 2022 by Kasper Falkenberg and Nicklas Nørgaard, who met studying chemical and biotech engineering at Aarhus University. After finishing their thesis, they spent eight months talking to professors and calling potential customers before settling on the problem they wanted to solve. One principle has held ever since: no new product is developed unless a customer has asked for it.
“As first-time founders there are many challenges, we need to overcome fast and with the best outcome possible”, says Nicklas Nørgaard, CTO and co-founder of NorFalk. “So, we learned to listen and surround ourselves with experienced people we could learn from. The customers are the most important group, and we have taught ourselves to listen to the customers and never develop new products until we have a true market need.”
The approach has produced several signed LOIs, more than 100 samples delivered to industry players worldwide, a first commercial agreement with an international personal care brand, and a completed tech transfer to a contract manufacturer for large scale pilot production.
NorFalk has now received funding to accelerate the growth journey
“We back founders who understand their customers better than anyone else in the room. Kasper and Nicklas have built NorFalk on exactly that principle, and it shows in the traction they’ve already achieved.” says Magnus Theil Olsen, Investment Associate at Delphinus Venture Capital.
Alongside Delphinus, the round is backed by an angel consortium of Kræn Nielsen, Mark Leader, Glenn Petersen, Jens Poulsen,Morten Trolle, Lasse Bolander, and Jan Sterobo. NorFalk has also received financial support from the BioInnovation Institute’s Upscalator, as the first company accepted into their programme.
The capital will go towards commercialization, product refinement, and a platform expansion developed with customers or industrial partners.
Biocatalysis is not limited to surfactants, emulsifiers and rheology modifiers. It is a way of transforming the chemical industry into a bio-based approach where petrochemical reliance is phased out.
About NorFalk
NorFalk is a Danish industrial biotech company founded in 2022 by Kasper Falkenberg and Nicklas Nørgaard. Using a modular biocatalysis platform, the company develops high-performance bio-based chemicals and ingredients for consumer products within personal care, home care and industrial cleaning. NorFalk is based in Risskov, Denmark.
About Delphinus Venture Capital
Delphinus Venture Capital is a Danish venture capital fund established in 2025, managing DKK 600 million. The fund is backed by Aarhus University Research Foundation, HEARTLAND, Norlys and Salling Group, and invests in research-heavy innovation and deeptech companies with the potential to create global impact.