But it’s the major driver of tropical deforestation, which contributes to nearly a fifth of all global emissions. Most of the world’s palm trees, for example, are in Indonesia and Malaysia, where these plantations have been directly responsible for widespread wildfires in recent years. The industry is also a threat to wildlife and human rights, particularly Indigenous communities.
These complications are well-known, but that hasn’t stopped production from increasing tenfold since 1980 – and global demand is currently growing by 4% every year. This would mean more forests felled and burned, a form of mass deforestation that emits greenhouse gases while removing the trees that would sequester them.
“Äio’s approach addresses this issue by valorising agricultural and forestry sidestreams into premium replacements, meaning significant reductions in CO2 or land use,” said Voima Ventures partner Pontus Stråhlman.
Aïo aims for 2026 factory opening amid industry interest
Courtesy: Andrei Ozdoba
The latest round also comes a year after Äio received a €1.8M grant from the Estonian Business and Innovation Agency (EISA) to develop a platform for semi-automated strain technology, in collaboration with the Center of Food and Fermentation Technologies. EISA had previously pumped in €500,000 to help the startup valorise sidestreams.
The company is already working with fellow Estonian firm Fibernol to convert wood hydrolysates into the microbial oils. Over 120 trove local and international partners have been providing Äio with industrial byproducts or testing its oils and fats.
It has also attracted interest from major food, cosmetics and household CPG companies, which have signed on to develop products together. The upcoming demo facility will help meet this demand, allowing the startup to produce tens of tonnes of its products. The location hasn’t been finalised, but it’s expected to be completed by 2026.
Älo has a separate Good Fat Wörks innovation centre to develop its yeast-derived fats and create pilot products. In May, it held a public tasting featuring delicacies made from these products at the Latitude59 startup festival in Tallinn, working alongside Gelatex and Accelerate Estonia.
Plus, it has been selected for a Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CB-EJU) project worth €7.5M, in which it will develop fat-based materials and cosmetics with other European companies and research bodies.
Courtesy: Andrei Ozdoba
“For a scientist, the greatest achievement is when years of research result in a real product that can change the entire food industry and consumer experience,” said Bonturi. “We will continue to develop the company and its products in collaboration with partners, investors and the food industry. We will also continue working with TalTech to train the next generation of bioengineers.”
Äio is innovating in an alternative fat market that’s expected to grow by 6% annually to reach $4.5B by 2032, but one that faces plenty of challenges, including high costs and low volumes for products aiming to replace those with low costs and high volumes.
There are plenty of startups specifically using fermentation to overcome this bottleneck for palm oil substitutes, including British firms PALM-ALT and Clean Food Group, New York-based C16 Biosciences, Estonia’s Äio, Dutch startups Time-Travelling Milkman and NoPalm Ingredients, and Bay Area company Kiverdi, among others.
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Publish date : 2024-09-26 17:00:00
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