Australia’s Number 8 Bio Nabs $7.1M to Scale Dual-Action Methane-Cutting Feed Additive

Australia’s livestock sector has become a focal point in the global climate debate, and a new player is drawing fresh attention for its attempt to make methane mitigation both practical and profitable. Sydney-based Number 8 Bio has raised $7.1 million in Series A financing to accelerate the commercialization of a feed additive that promises to curb methane emissions from cattle while improving productivity, a combination that investors increasingly view as essential as the world shifts from climate commitments to on-the-ground implementation.

The round was led by New Zealand’s Icehouse Ventures, with participation from Main Sequence, Japan’s One Innovators, and existing supporters who backed the company’s $4.5 million seed raise in late 2024. The capital now positions Number 8 Bio to scale testing, secure regulatory approvals across major livestock regions, and prepare for a planned 2026 market launch.

The company, founded in 2022 by scientists Dr. Tom Williams and Dr. Alex Carpenter, is targeting enteric methane, the byproduct of rumen fermentation that accounts for nearly 10 percent of Australia’s total emissions. Their solution centres on an organic small molecule produced through green chemistry and manufactured locally to stabilise pricing and supply chains. Underpinning the platform is a synthetic biology engine that models the rumen, allowing the team to move from lab concept to in-animal trials in weeks, not years. Early studies have shown reductions of up to 90 percent alongside improvements in fermentation efficiency tied to growth, milk, and wool yield.

These early results now need to translate across a wide range of systems. The Series A will fund large-scale trials with institutions including the Queensland Animal Science Precinct, the University of New England, and Agriculture Victoria’s Ellinbank SmartFarm. The company is also developing two commercial formats, a feed additive and a slow-release capsule lasting up to six months, both shaped in consultation with producers to fit seamlessly into existing operations. A carbon-insetting framework sits alongside this, enabling farmers and downstream buyers to claim verified reductions, a feature growing in importance as retailers tighten Scope 3 procurement standards.

The funding lands at a moment when methane mitigation is emerging as one of the fastest ways to reduce near-term warming. Past coverage across the sector has shown how global commitments like the Global Methane Pledge and the EU’s methane strategy have accelerated investment into enteric innovation, but delivery on farms has lagged. Much of the first wave of solutions, especially seaweed-based supplements, proved effective in principle yet hard to scale economically. Startups such as Rumin8, FutureFeed, and Sea Forest have attracted major capital and begun commercial-scale production, but the cost of cultivating and processing seaweed at volume remains a persistent barrier for broad adoption, particularly in extensive grazing.

That gap has opened space for a second generation of methane technologies using microbial engineering, precision fermentation, and synthetic biology. Alongside Number 8 Bio, companies like Norway’s N2 Applied, the US-based CH4 Global, and UK startup Zelp are exploring alternative delivery mechanisms, microbial modulation, and wearable or feed-based interventions to lower costs and embed climate impact into normal production cycles. Investors are increasingly gravitating toward solutions that align emissions reductions with measurable improvements in animal performance, a convergence that has been difficult for earlier approaches to achieve.

Number 8 Bio aims to sit squarely in that intersection. Its “performance digestion” model redirects metabolic pathways toward growth-promoting compounds while inhibiting methane, offering farmers a return on investment without adding management burden. The company says a single production plant could supply Australia’s and California’s feedlot and dairy herds, a scale that could shape both domestic and export markets. Japan’s participation in the round reflects that potential: as Australia’s second-largest beef buyer and a market intensifying its own decarbonisation efforts, Japan represents strategic alignment for future supply chain integration.

The next 12 to 18 months will determine whether Number 8 Bio can turn promising early data into proof at scale. The company will focus on expanding trials, refining formulations, completing regulatory submissions, and expanding manufacturing capacity, including a planned regional Victorian facility. Success would give producers a tool that reduces emissions without eroding productivity, an outcome that could shift methane from a compliance headache into a performance gain.

If the science holds and cost curves continue to improve, Number 8 Bio could become a defining player in the emerging landscape of dual-action livestock solutions, where climate outcomes and farm economics move in lockstep rather than in competition.