ÄIO prepares to scale up its microbial oils

Estonian biotech ÄIO and research centre TFTAK, also based in Tallinn, have launched DigiFoundry 2.0, a three-year R&D programme designed to make the production of microbial oils and fats more efficient, scalable and cost-competitive. With a total budget of €2.53 million, including €1.94 million in funding from the Estonian Business and Innovation Agency (EIS), the project will combine synthetic biology, precision fermentation, automation and digital process control.

Intended for applications including cosmetics, these ingredients are produced by fermenting side-streams from the food, agricultural and wood industries. ÄIO aims to provide alternatives to tropical oils and animal fats while making use of locally available resources. According to the company, its process could reduce land use by up to 97% and water consumption by up to 90% compared with conventional production methods.

Building on an initial programme focused in particular on automated microbial strain design, DigiFoundry 2.0 extends the approach to the entire production process. Harnessing fermentation data is expected to accelerate development cycles, optimise production conditions and improve process reproducibility and efficiency as production scales up. Founded in 2022 and already operating at tonne-scale production, ÄIO is also developing partnerships to support larger-scale manufacturing.