For many foreigners Bangladesh is an admirable country for its rich culture and hospitality, but for Mitsuru Izumo it was the country where he discovered the mission of his life.
When he arrived in Bangladesh as a first-year student of the University of Tokyo in 1998, Mitsuru Izumo, later the Founder and President of Euglena Co Ltd, did not have any clue that this trip would become one of the most successful stories of the Japanese biotech industry. What he observed was not only poverty but something else, which traditional views cannot describe accurately.
"In my perception, poverty means hunger," Izumo said in an interview with The Financial Express's Leadership Lens programme. "When I visited Bangladesh, I noticed that there is delicious food all around – biryani, khichuri and rice. But the problem was that poor people could not access nutritious food. Children were suffering from malnutrition."
This observation changed the life of a biology student completely. Back in Japan, Izumo turned his attention to nutritional sciences, committed to finding a low-cost solution that could tackle malnutrition throughout the world. Around three decades later his dreams materialised into a global biotech company that has revolutionised not only the field of nutrition but also cosmetics, renewable energy, and sustainable aviation fuel, still keeping Bangladesh at the core of its social agenda.
From entrepreneur to social entrepreneur
Recollecting his internship with Grameen Bank where he learned about social business, Izumo said. "I started to understand that making profit and building a successful business brings happiness. But making other people happier through business brings an even greater happiness."
That philosophy became the foundation of Euglena Co Ltd, established in 2005 not merely as a biotechnology company, but as a business dedicated to creating measurable social impact.
Turning an impossible idea into reality
The real game changer for the company has been Euglena, a microorganism unknown to many people.
As Izumo explains, Euglena combines features of plants and animals. While performing photosynthesis similar to plants, it also has its own locomotive abilities. What's more, it contains 59 types of nutrients including vitamins, minerals, proteins, amino acids and fatty acids.
The combination of all these factors has made Euglena a good candidate to fight malnutrition. Nevertheless, commercial cultivation of Euglena was perceived to be practically impossible.
Due to the lack of cell wall and vulnerability to contamination with other bacteria, global scientific community has not been able to cultivate it for a long time on a reasonable scale outside expensive laboratories.
Izumo changed that
In 2005, the company invented new technology of growing Euglena commercially under the open sky instead of costly laboratories. The company's first commercial cultivation plant was constructed in Okinawa where sufficient sunlight made large-scale cultivation possible.
This innovation has helped cut production cost and made the nutritional products from Euglena affordable for consumers. "Our invention was to cultivate Euglena on a commercial scale at a reasonable price," he said.
From university startup to Japan's first biotech unicorn
Following the commercial breakthrough, Euglena Co Ltd rapidly expanded beyond nutritional supplements. Currently, the company produces beverages, dietary health supplements, cosmetics, shampoos, and biofuel, including sustainable aviation fuel.
The growth of the corporation has also been impressive. The firm was quoted at the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Mothers in 2012 before moving to the bourse’s First Section after just two years.
Its market capitalisation once hit over US$1 billion, thus becoming the first start-up from the university in Japan to become a unicorn.
This success won Izumo the Japan Venture Award, given by former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. However, there is one experience that he cherishes very much and which was related to Bangladesh.
He remembered himself briefing Prime Minister Abe on the activities of Euglena in Bangladesh when Abe visited Dhaka. And after winning the award he informed Abe about the activities of his company on improving the nutrition of Bangladeshi children.
"When I told him that we have improved the nutrition of Bangladeshi children, he smiled and motivated us. This was one of my memorable moments," Izumo added.
Fighting hidden hunger in Bangladesh
Though Euglena has transformed into a global biotechnology corporation, the significance of Bangladesh in fulfilling the humanitarian purposes of Euglena is undeniable.
From 2014 onwards, Euglena has been running the Euglena Genki School Lunch Program which provides nutritious cookies enriched with halal certified Euglena powder manufactured in cooperation with local companies.
Currently, this programme is serving around 10,000 children from 87 schools in Dhaka city, especially those coming from underprivileged sections of society.
In the last 12 years, the programme has provided children with 20 million nutrition packs, resulting in an improved nutritional condition of the children. These accomplishments have been regarded by Izumo as the most successful endeavour of Euglena Co Ltd.
Bangladesh as a model for the world
Izumo is optimistic that Bangladesh will eventually become an example of a socially responsible company focused on solving nutritional issues on a global scale.
He noted that fruitful biotechnology cooperation requires time, careful research, and profound understanding and respect of local traditions and religious views.
According to him, understanding nutritional deficiencies, building relationships with the community and getting halal certification are all the necessary stages before a company starts operating in Bangladesh.
Instead of bringing any ready-made solutions from abroad, he proposes building relationships between scientists, businesses, educational institutions, parents, and communities for tackling nutritional deficiencies.
The vision of the entrepreneur is even wider: if the company manages to solve the issue of malnutrition among underprivileged children in Bangladesh and refugee camps, the same model can be applied in other developing regions that have the same problem with nutrition.
"We have received incredible support from our Bangladeshi friends," he stated. "If the model we develop in Bangladesh works well, we will try to use this experience in other parts of the world where children also need better nutrition."
For the entrepreneur who started his professional life as a student intern almost thirty years ago, Bangladesh is not just another project country. It has become the origin of an idea that science, business, and compassion can coexist.
Now, when Euglena expands to other countries, the original mission stays the same: to bring hope for a healthier future to millions of people through innovation.
