What do we do?

The young company develops innovative bioprocess technology with a focus on gassing solutions for bioreactors. Particularly disruptive is the BioThrust membrane gassing module for a completely bubble-free supply of bioprocesses. Due to this novel gas supply, the yield of cell culture processes can be significantly increased. As a second product line, BioThrust offers the UniThruster as a conventional sparger for oxygen-intensive processes, which can increase the gas input by up to 200%.

Where do we want to go?

BioThrust’s vision is to develop bioreactor systems based on disruptive technologies that can be used to produce innovative drugs such as cell and gene therapies or novel use cases such as cultured meat much more efficiently. This could then make such products available to our society at significantly lower cost.

What do we do?

The name LuminoGen is derived from the underlying technology, which is based on blue bioluminescent baker’s yeast created by genetic modification. Luciferin-luciferase systems are among the most sensitive systems for detecting substances with living cells via luminescent signals. The special feature of our yeast is its independence from the substrate luciferin, which normally has to be supplied from outside as “fuel” for the yeast to generate light with the enzyme luciferase. The independence from luciferin allows a cost saving of between 15-35% for these so-called bioassays.

Where do we want to go?

We are currently programming our yeast to respond to hormones, oxidants and antioxidants with blue light emission. Our assays can then help to identify potential hazards in the environment or in products at an early stage by providing analytical laboratories with more cost-effective and also more sensitive analytical products. In the medium term, we have already planned further assays to safeguard products and quality of life and would like to establish ourselves as a leading contact for individual problem solutions and assay developments.

What do we do?

As part of our research at the Institute of Microbiology and Biotechnology, we have discovered a biocatalyst that produces a sweet-tasting dietary fiber starting from renewable raw materials. We would like to place this dietary fiber on the sweetener market to improve the nutritional value of processed foods and contribute to a healthier diet. Unlike synthetic sweeteners, our dietary fiber has texturizing properties, making it suitable for baked goods and other foods in which sugar is used not only as a sweetener but also as a texturizing agent.

Where do we want to go?

We are currently producing a prototype of our dietary fiber in order to characterize it extensively and make it available to initial pilot customers. In parallel, we are working tirelessly on an application for EXIST transfer of research. This funding from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action would enable us to optimize the process, upscale to commercial scale, and gain regulatory approval for our sweet dietary fiber. The goal is to establish our company in the summer of 2024.

What do we do?

I used to run after the tractors in the summer, I have always been interested in nutrition and the environment, and today I can combine these interests professionally with my own business, as Varuta and ChitoNExt are all about insects, proteins and bioplastics, as we biotechnologically extract the individual, very valuable components and offer them for biomedicine, as food and animal feed, and for the pharmaceutical, energy, packaging and textile industries.

Where do we want to go?

Secure access to sustainable raw materials and proteins to support environmental protection and people.

What do we do?

Amid an ever-changing climate, we believe that plant protection products will maintain their significant role as tools to enhance plant health, therefore, we are working to improve their effectiveness and eco-friendliness. We do it by encapsulating their active substances in upcycled, non-toxic and fully biodegradable microgels, which protect and release them in controlled, programable manner. We decorate the outer surface of microgels with naturally occurring peptides that are engineered to act as anchors and stick the microgel containers on the leaf, preventing the wash-off by rain, thus reducing the risk of soil pollution and allowing more disease protection with less amount of active substance.

Where doe want to go?

Many active substances in biologicals are sensitive to environmental stress which reduces their field efficacy, while time-tested actives in chemical plant protection products can come with eco-tox problems. Both types of actives could truly benefit from our technology. In addition to leveraging it for development of proprietary formulations for crop protection, we’re pursuing collaboration with AgChem companies, offering them a platform to re-formulate existing products.