Cellarim Labs, a biotechnology startup pioneering cell-free biomanufacturing for beauty and personal care ingredients, has raised ₹6 crore in a seed funding round led by 3i Partners and Venture Catalysts. The round also saw participation from Momentum Capital, Jashan Bhumkar, Gayathri Kuppendra Reddy, and other strategic investors.
The funds raised will be used to establish its pilot-scale biomanufacturing facility, accelerate commercial production of NeuHyal, and expand its B2B ingredient supply to beauty and cosmetic brands. The investment will also support the growth of Cellarim Labs’ AI-driven biofoundry, which allows partner brands to bring target molecules for rapid design, testing, and production, significantly shortening development timelines for novel bioactives.
Founded in 2023 by Hitesh Rafalia and Nisa Mehreen, Cellarim Labs is a biotechnology startup pioneering cell-free biomanufacturing for beauty and personal care ingredients.
This technology replaces conventional fermentation and chemical synthesis processes to convert renewable bio-waste into sustainable ingredients for the personal care industry.
The company’s core innovation is a cell-free, enzyme-powered manufacturing platform that replaces slow fermentation and resource-heavy chemical synthesis with a cleaner, faster, and highly controlled process. By integrating AI-driven enzyme design with sustainable bioprocessing, Cellarim Labs converts renewable bio-waste into exceptionally pure and consistent beauty ingredients.
The platform has already delivered Cellarim Labs’ first breakthrough: NeuHyal, a high-purity Hyaluronic Acid portfolio spanning 10 kDa to 5000 kDa, developed in just one year. NeuHyal offers superior hydration performance, improved moisture retention, and a highly traceable, responsible alternative to conventional HA sources.
Nisa Mehreen, Co-founder & CEO, Cellarim Labs, said, “Cell-free biomanufacturing allows us to rethink how high-value ingredients are made, and this fundraise gives us the momentum to scale that vision. With the support of industry partners and investors who believe deeply in our technology, we are now ready to move from breakthrough innovation to commercial impact. Our focus is clear build a sustainable platform that delivers high-purity bioactives like NeuHyal™ with unmatched precision, consistency, and transparency.”
Dr Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Co-founder and Managing Director of Venture Catalysts, said, “Cellarim Labs is bringing much-needed innovation to an industry that’s demanding higher purity, better consistency and sustainable production. Their cell-free platform directly solves these gaps, and the speed at which they’ve delivered NeuHyal™ shows real execution strength. We see them becoming a key disruptor in global ingredient manufacturing.”
