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Amyris

Synthetic biology / biotech ingredients & clean beautyUSA
New to Unitard
💀 Dead / Bankrupt
Peak $4.98 BillionToday
~-100%
from peak
  1. 🦄
    Became a unicorn
    Dec 2010
  2. 📈
    Peak valuation
    $4.98 Billion ’21
  3. 💔
    Became a Unitard
    2022
  4. 💸
    Last valuation
    Wiped out
Capital raised
$2.66B
Total raised
$383K/day
Raised per day

Total raised averaged per day over approximately 19.1 years from founding to bankruptcy or shutdown. This is not measured cash burn. Methodology

Funding: FY2021 10-K (XBRL): additional paid-in capital of $2.66B at Dec 31, 2021, covering the 2010 IPO, follow-on offerings, warrant exercises and debt converted to equity; excludes debt outstanding at filing
Current status
Chapter 11 (filed Aug 9, 2023, D. Del.); consumer brands sold, including Biossance to THG; plan effective May 7, 2024 cancelled all common stock and gave the reorganized company to its bankruptcy lender

The rise & fall

10 moments · 2003–2024

The key moments, with employee sentiment along the way.

2003
Founded out of UC Berkeley
Jay Keasling and co-founders set out to make the malaria drug artemisinin cheaply with engineered yeast.
Berkeley IandE
Sep 28 ’10
Nasdaq IPO at $16 a share
Amyris sells 5.3M shares for $84.8M and lists as AMRS.
SEC (424B4)
Dec 31 ’10
Ends its IPO year above $1B$1.17B
Stockanalysis puts the year-end market value at $1.17B. It slips back below $1B in 2011 and stays there until late 2020.
Stockanalysis
Apr 6 ’21
The peak: about $5B on Nasdaq$4.98B
Shares trade at $18.23; with 273.3M shares outstanding the market value is about $5.0B, up from $1.48B at the end of 2020.
SEC (424B5)
Nov 9 ’21
Shares drop 30% on a revenue miss
Third-quarter sales of $47.9M trail forecasts of $80.6M, and Amyris plans $400M of convertible notes.
Motley Fool
Aug 9 ’23
Files Chapter 11 — joins the Unitard Club 💔
Amyris files in Delaware with bankruptcy financing from an affiliate of lender Foris Ventures and cuts about 260 more jobs, roughly 30% of staff since June.
SEC (8-K)
Dec 28 ’23
Biossance sold to THG for $20M$20M
The court-approved sale of the clean-beauty brand closes as Amyris exits consumer brands; about 220 more jobs go.
SEC (8-K)
Feb 7 ’24
Reorganization plan confirmed
The court confirms the third amended plan of reorganization.
SEC (8-K)
May 7 ’24
Plan takes effect; shares cancelled
All common stock is cancelled with no recovery; $20M of the bankruptcy loan converts into 100% of the new company's stock.
SEC (8-K)
From the inside · Glassdoor reviews, 2022–24
Glassdoor reviewers described constant reorganizations and strategy shifts, faulted leadership for chasing too many consumer brands, and said 2023's layoff rounds came with little warning. Average ratings fell from 3.9 (2020–21) to 3.1 (2023–24).
$4.98Bof peak value erased · 19 years

💬 entries paraphrase anonymous, unverified reviews posted publicly on Glassdoor ↗; dated facts carry their source.

How it happened

Amyris was founded in 2003 by Jay Keasling, Jack Newman, Neil Renninger, Kinkead Reiling and Vincent Martin to make the malaria drug artemisinin with engineered yeast. It later moved into renewable fuels, then ingredients such as squalane, and finally its own clean-beauty brands such as Biossance.

It listed on Nasdaq in September 2010 at $16 a share. On April 6, 2021, its stock traded at $18.23, which with 273.3M shares outstanding implies a market value of about $5.0B. A third-quarter revenue miss and a $400M convertible-note plan sent the shares down about 30% on November 9, 2021.

Amyris filed for Chapter 11 in Delaware on August 9, 2023, and sold Biossance to THG for $20M. Its plan cancelled all common stock on May 7, 2024.

Source: Never a private unicorn; peak is a traded Nasdaq market value. Amyris 424B5 prospectus (Apr 2021): last reported sale $18.23 on Apr 6, 2021 and 273,266,917 shares outstanding at Apr 1, 2021 = about $4.98B. Stockanalysis: $1.17B at Dec 31, 2010; $1.48B at Dec 31, 2020; $1.67B at Dec 31, 2021; $497.5M at Dec 30, 2022. FY2021 10-K cover: non-affiliate value $2.67B at June 30, 2021. IPO 424B4 (Sept 27, 2010): 5.3M shares at $16. Motley Fool (Nov 9, 2021): shares down about 30% on a Q3 revenue miss and a $400M convertible-note offering. 8-K (Aug 10, 2023): Chapter 11 filed Aug 9, 2023 in D. Del. 8-K (Dec 29, 2023): Biossance sold to THG for $20M. 8-K (Feb 9, 2024): plan confirmed Feb 7, 2024. 8-K (May 7, 2024): plan effective; all common stock cancelled with no recovery; $20M of DIP claims converted into 100% of new stock. Berkeley IandE: founded 2003 by Keasling, Newman, Renninger, Reiling and Martin.

Founders & leadership

  • John Melo
    president & CEO (led at peak)
    No public profile matched
  • Jay Keasling
    co-founder
    No public profile matched
  • Jack Newman
    co-founder
    No public profile matched
  • Neil Renninger
    co-founder
    No public profile matched
  • Kinkead Reiling
    co-founder
    No public profile matched
  • Vincent Martin
    co-founder
    No public profile matched

Disclosed investors (7)

Historical funding participation; lists may be incomplete and do not establish current ownership or investor losses.

* Lead in a funding round · Crunchbase ↗ · 2026-10-22 · Methodology · Leaderboard

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