Innomost's Betuinno. Betulin is a material upcycled from birch bark that is intended to replace white pigments such as titanium dioxide in beauty and personal care products.
Betuinno. Betulin Top Quality Fine is biodegradable and applicable in color cosmetics, toothpaste, sun acre, coatings and more.
Most notably, it can reportedly be used as a replacement for titanium dioxide, in conjunction with non-nano zinc oxide, in sunscreens.
The vegan, "largely anti-allergic" technology also has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties for skin care. In applications, Betuinno. Betulin can reportedly help the skin to heal and regenerate, while delivering moisturizing effects.
Lumene skin care is already an Innomost client.
“The cooperation with Innomost is highly valuable, offering locally sourced upcycled ingredients, as an example, we were able to formulate birch upcycled ingredients and phased out microplastic scrubbing particles with Barkinno Birch Bark Powder," said Alain Mavon, Ph.D., VP R&D and sustainability, Lumene. "In addition, as Innomost is continuously innovating, together we will continue exploring usage of existing or test new birch derived ingredients to increase the usage of upcycled and circular ingredients in our formulations. By increasing the usage of Birch derived ingredients in our portfolio, Innomost is key partner to ensure we are delivering on our strategy and vision of Leading in Circular Beauty."
Betulin's development has been aided by €1.4 million in additional funding from Innomost's existing investors, Metsä Spring and Innovestor.
“We are delighted to bring this new product to the market, as consumer needs and new regulations demand that beauty products are truly sustainable and safe, while providing transparency to the end-users of what the products contain," said Sami Selkälä, CEO and founder of Innomost. "The Betuinno. Betulin white pigment can be utilized in different use cases, which enables Innomost to enter new industries–our products are already loved in the cosmetics industry, so we are excited to bring wood-based solutions to other players, too."
“Innomost has completed the greenfield pilot plant situated at Northern Europe’s largest inorganic chemical industry park in Kokkola, Finland," said Erik Kolehmainen, chair of Innomost and VP, corporate venturing at Metsä Spring. "With this plant, Innomost can demonstrate its patented production technology and proceed towards commercial scale. We are next looking forward to expand the client base globally with applications in different industrial sectors."
