The startup raised €6.1 million in venture capital from Voima Ventures, 2C Ventures, SmartCap and Nordic Foodtech VC. According to 2C Ventures’ Hendrik Reimand, Äio has the potential to commercialise its scientific advances, highlighting the importance of sustainable alternatives. “Providing sustainable alternatives to products such as palm oil or animal fats is a crucial step in reducing environmental impact,” he said in a statement.
Pontus Stråhlman, partner at Voima Ventures, added, “Äio’s approach addresses the problem of the palm oil industry destroying diverse forests by turning agricultural and forestry by-products into high-quality substitutes, leading to significant reductions in CO2 emissions and land use.”
With the new investment, Äio plans to build the demonstration plant, which will produce encapsulated oil, red oil and butterfats by 2026. The final location is yet to be determined, but it is likely to be close to a large industrial company that will source raw materials through cooperation with Estonian and Finnish food industry companies.
To date, the biotech start-up has secured more than 120 partners worldwide to develop innovative products using its oils and fats.
Äio’s founders Nemailla Bonturi and Petri-Jaan Lahtvee. Photo by Andrei Ozdoba.
Äio has also been selected for the European Joint Undertaking on Circular Bioeconomy project, which has a budget of €7.5 million, to develop fat-based materials and cosmetic products in collaboration with European partners.
Founded in 2022 by TalTech bioengineers Petri-Jaan Lahtvee and Nemailla Bonturi, Äio’s international team now consists of 16 members with diverse backgrounds in bioprocessing, synthetic biology and food technology.
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Publish date : 2024-09-24 00:09:00
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