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Estonian biotechnology company ÄIO and applied research organisation TFTAK have secured €1.94 million in funding for a three-year programme designed to lift the efficiency and industrial scalability of microbial oil production.
Named DigiFoundry 2.0, the project carries a total budget of roughly €2.53 million and is supported by the Applied Research Programme of the Estonian Business and Innovation Agency. ÄIO's proposal topped the ranking among all projects approved in the programme's tenth funding round.
At the heart of the initiative lies the integration of microbial strain development with fermentation optimisation, automation, and digital process control. The two partners are targeting lower development and production costs, alongside a shorter path from laboratory concept to industrial-scale microbial oil ingredients.
"With DigiFoundry, we built the foundation. With DF2.0, we are connecting biology, fermentation and digitalisation into one integrated production system," said Prof. Petri-Jaan Lahtvee, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of ÄIO and Professor at Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech). He added: 'Our goal is to make microbial oil production not only sustainable, but also highly efficient and economically competitive at an industrial scale. By combining improved fermentation with automation and data-driven process development, we can learn faster, optimise faster, and ultimately produce better ingredients with fewer resources.'
DigiFoundry 2.0 builds on an earlier ÄIO–TFTAK collaboration that ran from 2023 to 2026. That programme delivered an automated platform for microbial strain design, together with a Design-Build-Test-Learn workflow for engineering microorganisms capable of producing specialty fats through precision fermentation.
The new project will extend that foundation across the broader manufacturing chain, drawing on production data and automated systems to tighten process control and reproducibility.
ÄIO is developing fermentation technology that converts organic side-streams from the food, agriculture, and wood industries into feedstocks for oils and fats. Its portfolio is being positioned as a sustainable alternative to ingredients such as tropical oils and animal-derived fats, serving end-markets including food and personal care.
According to the company, its process can cut land use by up to 97% and water consumption by up to 90% when benchmarked against conventional production methods.
TFTAK will contribute its expertise in synthetic biology, precision fermentation, and bioprocess development. The organisation has previously supported ÄIO with microbial screening, strain engineering, and product characterisation.
ÄIO was founded in 2022 as a spin-off from Tallinn University of Technology and has since progressed from laboratory-scale fermentation to tonne-scale output. The company is also pursuing partnerships to support even larger manufacturing capacity.
Source: Food and Drink International