Cases from across Europe

The biorevolution is well underway. And the Europe wide biosolutions sector already has a wide variety of solutions that can help solve some of our greatest challenges to offer the world. Everything from a more sustainable, competitive food production to new bio-based materials. We share with you a selection of cases that show how great the impact of unleashing biosolutions can be.

Existing innovative biosolutions and the companies who produce them can make Europe's biorevolution happen. Over decades, we have been sowing the seeds for and shaping this revolution. Now, we need to create the best possible conditions for biosolutions companies to ensure that the coming biorevolution will also be European. We want the companies that were born in Europe to grow here instead of elsewhere.

But currently, we risk missing out on the opportunities of the biorevolution because of regulations that have been designed with fossil-based solutions in mind. Products and solutions that are based on natural materials and biological processes are stalled as they wait for approval. At the same time, the European system for regulatory approval and renewal is the slowest in the world. This situation risks driving companies and researchers out of Europe, and with them the chance for Europe to lead the biorevolution.

The European biosolutions sector has a wide variety of benefits to offer the world. However, they remain held back by obstacles in their efforts to create new solutions based on time-tested techniques from nature’s own toolbox. We have the knowledge. We have the companies. We have the techniques and we have the solutions. Let’s make Europe’s biorevolution happen. Here, you'll find a selection of innovative companies already pushing for change.

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Food & Nutrition

dsm-firmenich

The Swiss-Dutch company dsm-firmenich uses biotechnology to make the production of HMOs more efficient and sustainable for infant formula at an industrial scale. Here is how it works: dsm-firmenich uses a dedicated microorganism that has been subject to extensive research and checks to ensure its safety. Thanks to gene technology, the microorganism has been tailored to produce specific compounds: in this case, HMOs. The production is achieved through precision fermentation, which is a process through which microorganisms, such as bacteria, are fed with carbon sources, such as sugars, to produce other molecules (in this case, HMOs). This happens within an isolated and controlled environment in which temperature, pH, feeding material, and other factors are strictly controlled.

Novonesis

The Danish company Novonesis produces beneficial bacterial cultures (food cultures) that optimize the fermentation process. Fermentation is an ancient way to keep food fresh for longer. It is a natural way to reduce spoilage and contamination with “bad” bacteria. This way, it is possible to enhance the quality, freshness and shelf-life of the final product. The food cultures create an extra protective hurdle against “bad” bacteria in, e.g., meat and dairy products, as well as in ready-to-eat foods, during processing, transportation, and storage, and even after the product has been opened. The use of selected food cultures can play an important role in achieving the EU goals related to the reduction of food waste and CO2-emissions.

Revyve

The Dutch food-tech company Revyve creates high-performing texturizing ingredients from brewer’s and baker’s yeast – natural, animal-free alternatives that replicate the functionality of eggs in a wide range of food applications. The core of their technology is a process that partners with breweries and yeast producers to source high-quality yeast. They use a relatively gentle mechanical and thermal treatment to open the yeast cells and extract the proteins and fibres, without using enzymes or solvents. This preserves the natural functionality of the proteins, including their ability to gel, emulsify, stabilize, and bind. Unlike many plant-based egg replacers that rely on blends and additives, Revyve achieve egg-like functionality with a single ingredient: yeast protein. This enables cleaner labels, greater functionality, and easier integration into existing production processes.

Those Vegan Cowboys

The Belgian company Those Vegan Cowboys has built a stainless steel cow in their milk lab in Ghent, Belgium. You may call her Margaret, like that other Iron Lady who made European history. By using the age-old art of fermentation, Margaret serves the world real classic grass-fed cheese with the help of microbes. The process is called precision fermentation: a technology 50 years in the making. Margaret’s microorganisms are trained to express the casein milk proteins. Caseins are then produced at large scale by grass-fed fermentation. The result is animal free cheese made by a stainless steel cow. Free the cow from cheese production, and the environmental impact becomes practically zero – a major leap forward for the entire industry.

Biomaterials

AustroCel Hallein

In Austria, the company AustroCel Hallein is able to use up to 98 percent of the industrial wood residues and transform them into high-quality products. How? By developing one of Europe’s most advanced integrated biorefineries, where biomass residues – in this case wood – are utilised down to the last fibre. Here the wood is turned into substances like cellulose which can be used in textiles, construction, pharmaceuticals, and food. In this circular way, the company replaces fossil raw materials, reduces emissions, and strengthens regional value creation. From another wood component called lignin, AustroCel Hallein has developed the world’s first 100 percent biological hydrogel made from wood in collaboration with the start-up AgroBiogel GmbH. The biodegradable hydrogel helps soil keep water during dry periods and thereby supporting farmers worldwide to facilitate growth on dry soils.

BRAIN Biotech AG

In Germany, a joint development program named ZeroCarbFP funded by the German government has been established to answer the question: what if we were able to convert the carbon from waste streams into valuable products – into a functional biomass? It uses biotechnology to identify enzymes and microorganisms that help utilise and transform waste streams into sources of raw materials. The best candidates are then optimised to prepare them for application in industrial production. The German company BRAIN Biotech is in charge of developing a biotechnological process that utilises biogenic CO2 from the production plants of Südzucker AG. The aim is to stabilise it for use as a raw material, convert it into valuable products, and eventually bring these processes to pilot scale.

Epoch Biodesign

The UK company Epoch Biodesign has developed a technology that transforms plastic and textile waste into infinitely recyclable materials and everyday chemicals. By combining generative AI, biology and chemistry, Epoch engineers “biological machines” known as enzymes. These enzymes catalyse rapid, low-energy chemical reactions to break down long plastic molecules into their chemical building blocks, which can be used to make virgin-quality recycled materials again and again. With no compromise on cost or quality, Epoch Biodesign provides an end-of-life solution for complex pre-and post-consumer waste and is paving the way for a more sustainable, less polluted future in which production can be decoupled from fossil carbon extraction.

Futerro

With over 30 years of experience, The Belgian company Futerro develops and produces bio-based platform molecules such as lactic acid and lactide as well as PLA (polylactic acid), which is a sustainable, bio-based, and circular polyester. How? By converting sugar from crops like corn and wheat into lactic acid using fermentation, which is then polymerized into PLA. A process, that harnesses CO₂ captured by renewable resources through photosynthesis. Lactic acid and lactide can serve as a base for the chemical industry, enabling the production of applications such as green solvents, natural preservatives, and ingredients for the food and feed sectors. Meanwhile, PLA is able to replace traditional fossil-based plastics in many different applications like textiles, 3D printing, food packaging, films and more. Futerro has also developed the LOOPLA® technology, a system that can break used PLA materials back down into its original building blocks, lactic acid. This allows the material to be recycled again and again, forming a truly circular model where nothing goes to waste.

Visibuilt

The Danish biotech startup Visibuilt can support the asphalt industry by replacing the fossil-based binder bitumen with their fungi binder, visiBIT, derived from nature’s own binding agent: mycelium. Mycelium is the natural root-like structure of very small fungal threads that grow underground, into a resilient net, through the soil. visiBIT is developed through fermentation, where mycelium is grown on organic side streams inside a bioreactor. The process is remarkably energy efficient. Traditional asphalt production with bitumen requires heating of rock materials up to 200 degrees Celsius, while mycelium-based asphalt can be constructed at room temperature. This means the potential energy savings are huge. Once applied with rocks, visiBIT develops into a strong network that binds the stones tightly. Visibuilt’s innovative solution leverages the potential of fungi. When using visiBIT, it is possible to reduce the road industry’s dependency on fossil fuels, as it offers an alternative to bitumen. Existing bio-based solutions often only partially replace bitumen, typically acting as fillers rather than binders, but with visiBIT, the road industry can be transformed.

Bioagriculture

Biotalys

The biobased crop protection product from the Belgian company Biotalys, a biofungicide named EVOCA™, is based on proteins - the core ingredient of nature. The proteins are produced through precision fermentation, a biological process that utilizes mainly sustainable and natural resources. It is a production method with great potential to become a sustainable alternative to conventional chemical pesticides. This is how the proteins work: They are mixed with water and then sprayed on the crop. Here they interfere with the cell wall of the fungus, which bursts, and the fungus dies off. The proteins themselves are fully biodegradable, turning into amino acids that could even be beneficial for soil life.

Koppert

The Dutch company Koppert has more than 55 years of experience in the production of natural enemies and microorganisms. Found in nature, Koppert’s products work as biological solutions for farmers and growers to protect their crops against pests and diseases. One example is Mycotal – a fungus that can attack and kill pests. Mycotal works as a bio-insecticide that prevents whiteflies and several other pests in vegetables, ornamentals, nursery trees, and soft fruit in protected cultivation. Bio-insecticides like Mycotal, which is already available on the market, originate from nature. They provide farmers and growers with tools to control pests and diseases in a sustainable and eco-friendly way.

Syngenta

Swiss-based global company Syngenta has distributed a bio-fungicide, TAEGRO®, developed by Danish company Novonesis which will help reduce dependencies on conventional chemical pesticides. Based on specific strain bacteria endospores that are activated when mixed with water, TAEGRO® can protect fruits and vegetables with multiple modes of action that complement each other. Farmers - organic as well as conventional – can use the bio-fungicide TAEGRO® against broad spectrum diseases such as powdery mildews, botrytis, early blight, etc. This provides them with versatile and efficient protection for many crops cultivated throughout Europe, including grapes, berries, fruiting vegetables like tomato and cucurbits, as well as leafy and root vegetables.

Industrial scale-up platforms

21st.BIO

The Danish company 21st.BIO was founded to make industrial-scale precision fermentation technology accessible for bulk protein production. This enables biosolutions companies across the globe to successfully bring proteins to market faster and at a competitive cost, while removing significant risk from their ventures in precision fermentation. With a license to use Novonesis technology, 21st.BIO leverages its precision fermentation technology platform to develop highly productive microbial strains and optimal fermentation processes, plus offer production upscaling guidance to its customers. 21st.BIO is active across the nutrition, food, biomaterials, agriculture and even mining sectors.

Biosphere

Biosphere is a key player in the Italian industrial biotechnology sector and works as a technology platform, delivering deep tech along with research-based scaling facilities in which other companies can improve and test their products. Biosphere provides research and development along with scale-up services in the field of fermentation and industrial biotechnology, supporting customers and partners in the industrialization of their projects. Turning today’s chemical industry into a biobased one requires strong collaboration between scientists and the industry. Biosphere is a key facilitator in this collaboration. Biosphere is also known for its development of tailor-made enzymes and microorganisms for a variety of market sectors.

Protein & Ingredient Design

Cradle

Founded in December of 2021, Cradle is based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and Zurich, Switzerland with a team comprised of machine learning and biotech research specialists with experience at many of the world’s leading technology and biotech companies, including Google, Zymergen, Novartis, Uber, Meta, Deepmind and Perfect Day. Cradle’s mission is to make engineering biology easier, quicker, and more cost-effective. Its machine-learning platform helps scientists to design better proteins, faster and more successfully, speeding up the development of new therapeutics and bio-based products such as enzymes, antibodies and bio-based materials and chemicals. Cradle uses language-based generative AI to design functional proteins, and it doesn’t stop there. Every model is tested in Cradle’s own custom-built lab, closing the feedback loop between in silico design and real-world experimentation.

Twig

Combining AI with biology, the British ingredient company Twig is speeding up the development of and improving sustainability in everyday ingredients. Twig can make hundreds of different ingredients in a clean and sustainable way by using microbes as miniscule factories. Here is how it works: Using an AI-driven system called “BioDrive” Twig is able to explore billions of possible microbe designs. It then evaluates which designs are most promising and prepares them for lab testing. Twig’s automated lab system “GrowBot” then takes the AI-generated microbe designs and grows them in plates and fermentors. With very fast, low-cost testing, it generates real-world data to identify the top-performing microbe for scaling. This ensures scalable production in large volumes, addressing a key challenge in industrial biotech. With AI, biology and robotics working together, Twig can create drop-in replacements for existing ingredients, initially focusing on the cosmetics industry, with the potential to expand into food, pharmaceuticals, and other sectors.

Textiles

AMSilk

The German company AMSilk is one of the prime movers in developing functional proteins that can be turned into strong and sustainable silk, replacing chemical products or products of animal origin. AMSilk’s patented technology allows for the production of spider silk proteins on an industrial scale, using a genetically-engineered microorganism. With biotechnology, AMSilk can produce a silk-like fibre that is vegan, completely biodegradable, and solely produced with renewable resources. The material has a variety of applications, ranging from super-fine yarn for silk-like fabric to super-resistant yarns for advanced materials, such as composites or car seats.

Detergents

Borregaard

In Norway, the company Borregaard has developed a new type of biopolymer which is a natural building block that can be used to create new, functional materials: LignoBrite. It is designed to replace synthetic chemicals in homecare detergents without compromising performance. Borregaard produces LignoBrite by taking lignin – a side stream of the pulp and paper industry – and carefully refining it into a water-soluble, bio-based ingredient. The result is a clean, consistent polymer that can be added to detergents and cleaners to boost performance without the need for petrochemical modification. LignoBrite can substitute multiple commonly used ingredients to ensure cleaning efficiency, such as automatic dishwashing detergents and laundry detergents, where it prevents greying and encrustation, helping fabrics retain brightness.

Acids

AFYREN

The French green technology company AFYREN has found a way to produce carboxylic acids without relying on oil, gas, or coal. Instead, they turn renewable plant-based materials, like local agricultural by-products, into biobased organic acids; acids that can replace traditional petrochemical ingredients used in many consumer and industrial products. They do so by using a natural fermentation technology and a fully circular process – which means there are no waste products. Everything that enters the system is either turned into valuable products or reused. This environment friendly and zero waste technology enables the valorization of different types of biomasses, not competing with human food chains.

Biorefinery

AGRANA

Located in Austria, the company AGRANA is turning feed grains – primarily wheat – into multiple products from the same crop at their state-of-the-art biorefinery Pischelsdorf. Nothing goes to waste. The wheat starch and protein fraction are processed into starch for use in food, paper, packaging, and adhesives. The parts of the grain that are not used for starch and protein are fermented and distilled into ethanol, which is then blended into petrol to reduce emissions per liter of fuel. The CO₂ that is released at Pischelsdorf during the fermentation process is captured and liquified in a large on-site CO₂ plant built in cooperation with an industrial partner. The resulting liquid CO₂ is sold for applications such as beverage carbonation, welding, and cooling, thereby replacing fossil CO₂ sources. Thanks to the nearly closed-loop circular economy, the overall efficiency of the process at Pischelsdorf is very high. If their model is scaled and replicated, it could significantly contribute to solving several major challenges. One is climate change, where the bioethanol produced at AGRANA’s facility has been shown in life cycle analyses to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by around 80% compared with gasoline. Another is resource efficiency. AGRANA ensures that almost the entire grain is turned into valuable products – starch, protein, bioethanol, feed protein, and purified CO₂ – instead of treating crops as either food or fuel and discarding the rest as waste.

Dyes & Pigments

Pili

The French bio-company Pili produces decarbonised colour alternatives based on renewable resources. And they do so by integrating biology with chemistry. The approach uses biomass in the form of renewable, traceable non-food raw materials that are utilised to manufacture products without tapping into food or fossil resources. Pili selects and optimises microorganisms and feeds them with biomass during fermentation to produce the building blocks of dyes and pigments. The biobased building block obtained is then converted into high-purity dyes, applying green chemistry principles such as low temperatures, water as a solvent, and catalytic methods to minimise waste. This process allows scalable, cost-effective dye manufacturing without compromising on quality.

Cosmetic & Beauty

PlantaRei Biotech

The Italian company PlantaRei® has developed and patented a green alternative to glycerophosphoinositol (GPI) named GPI 4Planet™. GPI is an active molecule naturally present in our organism, widely used in dermo-cosmetics for its soothing and anti-inflammatory properties. Unlike the traditional chemical process, GPI 4Planet™ production is based on a green method that takes advantage of enzymes. Enzymatic reactions, in which specific proteins called enzymes interact with substrates to generate highly specific products, occur under mild conditions of temperature, pH, and pressure. By putting enzymes to work, PlantaRei® avoids the use of any chemical solvents, lowering the CO2 emissions by 80% compared to the traditional production method and resulting in a green product of high quality.