Toulouse, France-based animal nutrition company Aviwell has raised EUR 11 million (USD 13.1 million) from key investors to fund its artificial intelligence-driven animal microbiome platform.
Trademarked “Aneto,” the AI-powered technology is an intelligence-based system that maps and decodes animal microbiomes, helping to identify native bacterial communities that might impact animal welfare and performance. It then turns that data into practical solutions, according to seafood venture capital firm Hatch Blue, which was one of the main funders involved in the Series A round.
The first deployment of this technology will be in poultry and aquaculture, looking to reduce antibiotic usage and improve production efficiency.
“Aneto identifies specific molecular mechanisms – modes of action – that enable the selection of native bacterial communities to create tailored bacterial ecologies designed to enhance animal performance, immunity, and robustness,” Aviwell said in a release. “This approach delivers a highly efficient discovery process, reducing research and development timelines and costs while accelerating time to market.”
Aviwell Co-Founder Rémy Burcelin said the company came to fruition after identifying how naturally occurring bacterial ecologies administered early in an animal’s life can have a measurable impact on an animal’s overall growth, health, and resilience.
By combining advanced microbiota analysis with machine learning, the nutrition company hopes the newly funded research will help kickstart improvements in both feed efficiency and immune function support. Additional positive outcomes include lowered costs and easier development for future animal nutrition solutions.
While the new capital raised will fund poultry and aquaculture microbial ecologies in the short term, future expansion is the goal, Hatch Blue said. This effort will ideally involve commercial companies, partners, and customers.
“Aviwell sits at the intersection of two powerful market forces: rising global demand for animal protein and the accelerating consumer shift toward natural, sustainable, antibiotic-free production systems,” Aviwell President and CEO Mouli Ramani said. “With Aneto, we can translate microbiome complexity into practical, scalable solutions – helping livestock and aquaculture producers improve productivity while reducing their environmental footprint. With the support of our new investors, Aviwell will accelerate development in poultry and aquaculture and expand our platform and product pipeline.”
Capital raised in the Series A funding round was led by the Blue Revolution Fund (BRF), which is operated by Hatch Blue.
Hatch Blue Managing Partner Georg Baunach said Aviwell’s technology resembles the new generation of microbiome innovation and believes the technology is key to “unlocking the next wave of solutions” for poultry, aquaculture, and livestock.
Paris, France-based crowdfunding investment firms Blast Club and SWEN Capital Partners also contributed to the Series A funding round. They join an existing investor portfolio that includes Elaia and MFS Investment Management.
“We invested in Aviwell for one simple reason: They are revolutionizing the agrifood industry,” Blast Club Founder Anthony Bourbon said. “Aviwell uses AI and life sciences to naturally boost animal growth, without hormones or antibiotics, simply by working on the microbiota. That's what we like: impact, innovation and a real long-term vision.”
