Estonian biotechnology company ÄIO and applied research organization TFTAK have launched DigiFoundry 2.0. The three year project aims to make microbial oil production more efficient and cost-competitive, combining fermentation improvements, automation and digital process control.
The project has received €1.94 million in funding through the Estonian Business and Innovation Agency’s Applied Research Programme. Total project budget comes to roughly €2.53 million. ÄIO’s application ranked first among those approved in the programme’s tenth funding round.
DigiFoundry 2.0 builds on an earlier three year collaboration between ÄIO and TFTAK. That first project created a prototype platform for automated microbial strain design. It also established a development cycle for producing specialized fats through precision fermentation, alongside pilot-scale fermentation and techno-economic assessment.
The new phase connects that biological work with improved fermentation, automation and digital process control. The goal is to build one integrated production system, says Prof. Petri-Jaan Lahtvee, co-founder and chief operating officer of ÄIO.
ÄIO’s technology transforms low-value side-streams from the food, agricultural and wood industries into oils and fats. Microorganisms replace traditional oil crops or animal fats in the process. That approach reduces dependence on agricultural land and long supply chains. According to company data, it can cut land use by up to 97 percent. Water consumption drops by up to 90 percent compared with conventional production.
Digitalization plays a central role in making precision fermentation commercially viable. Biological processes generate large volumes of data on microbial performance and fermentation conditions. Connecting that data through automated systems can shorten development cycles. It also helps translate lab discoveries into reproducible industrial production.
TFTAK will keep contributing expertise in synthetic biology and bioprocess development. The organization will connect strain engineering with more automated, data-driven production methods.
The project arrives as ÄIO shifts from technology development toward broader commercial production.
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