Twogee Biotech was founded by Frank Wallrapp and Helge Jochens, two long-time colleagues united by a shared passion for using biotechnology to make the chemical industry more sustainable. After working together for more than a decade in industrial enzyme and strain development — most recently at Clariant Biotech — they saw firsthand both the potential and the limitations of current biotechnological solutions.

Both scientists were driven by the same conviction: that enzymes can unlock enormous value from renewable, second-generation raw materials — if only they can be developed and tailored specific and fast enough for real industrial use. However, conventional approaches to enzyme discovery and optimization are often too slow, too costly, and rarely translate seamlessly from the lab to the factory floor. Consequently, current enzyme solutions are not efficient and cost-effective enough for broad application in industry.

To solve this, Frank and Helge decided to start fresh and independent. In 2024, they founded Twogee Biotech — a name reflecting their vision of the “second generation” (2G) of both biotechnology: Modular, customer-oriented and built for scalable sustainability, and sugars: Waste-based, hence sustainable and food-independent. 

Twogee’s multi-level platform combines advanced enzyme screening, strain engineering, and fermentation technologies that allows disruptive fast development cycles of customized enzyme solutions for bioconversion of the whole range of divers biomasses into high-value and sustainable second generation raw-materials like sugars. Together with their business model of licensing out their technology for on-site enzyme production, their approach advances the global circular bioeconomy by enabling efficient, local valorisation of waste into marketable materials, creating new revenue streams for industries and providing the second generation sugars highly needed in the SynBio industry.

Their goal is clear: to accelerate the transition toward a circular, low-carbon chemical industry — one where biology and technology work hand in hand to transform waste to value.