Estonian Biotech Start-up Secures €1.94m for Microbial Oil Production Project

Estonian biotech start-up Äio has partnered with research organisation TFTAK (Center of Food and Fermentation Technologies) to launch a three-year R&D project focused on microbial oil production. The project, DigiFoundry 2.0, Bioprocess Efficiency Increase via Digitalisation (DF2.0), aims to establish the technological foundation for efficient, scalable, and cost-competitive production of Äio's microbial oils.

The €1.94 million in funding for DF2.0 was secured through the Applied Research Programme of the Estonian Business and Innovation Agency (EIS). The initiative was ranked first among the applications approved in the programme’s 10th funding round, with a total budget of approximately €2.53 million.

Building on the results of the original DigiFoundry project, which ran from 2023 to 2026, DF2.0 connects biological development with improved fermentation, automation, and digital process control. This collaboration aims to reduce land use by up to 97% and water consumption by up to 90% compared to conventional production methods.

Petri-Jaan Lahtyee, co-founder and COO of Äio, said: “Our goal is to make microbial oil production not only sustainable, but also highly efficient and economically competitive at an industrial scale.”