{"id":164128,"date":"2025-06-12T07:23:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T05:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=164128"},"modified":"2025-06-05T11:18:30","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T09:18:30","slug":"scotlands-bioeconomy-boosted-by-launch-of-850000-scale-up-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/scotlands-bioeconomy-boosted-by-launch-of-850000-scale-up-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"Scotland\u2019s bioeconomy boosted by launch of \u00a3850,000 scale-up technology"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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FlexBIO team with new fermenter \u00a9 Invest in Scotland, FlexBIO<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Located at FlexBIO, the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre\u2019s (IBioIC) scale-up facility at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, installation of the new fermenter was made possible by a \u00a3847,000 grant from Scottish Enterprise, Scotland\u2019s national economic development agency.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The launch event, which took place across FlexBIO and the National Robotarium, brought together key industry stakeholders for a morning of networking and presentations, as well as the chance to view the fermenter in situ and learn more about how it will be used to support young companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The investment expands IBioIC\u2019s scale-up capabilities significantly, increasing upstream bioprocessing capacity tenfold \u2013 from 30 litres to 300 litres. The fermenter \u2013 a type of bioreactor used to cultivate microorganisms \u2013 offers a crucial bridge between lab-scale development and full-scale production, allowing businesses to conduct trials without disrupting their day-to-day operations or bearing the high cost of purchasing the expensive equipment themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fermentation is a key stage of bioprocessing involving active ingredients such as yeast, bacteria and algae. End uses span a wide range of sectors, from cultivated meat and alternative proteins for the food sector, to natural dyes and fibres for sustainable textiles, and bio-based ingredients for medicines and cosmetics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Products created through biological processes instead of petrochemicals provide a sustainable alternative to traditional manufacturing. However, translating lab-based science into industry-ready processes remains a major challenge for bio-based businesses. The high cost of infrastructure, such as large-scale fermenters, in one barrier \u2013 but many companies also lack the in-house expertise needed to scale up. FlexBIO helps to bridge both gaps by offering access to equipment and technical know-how under one roof.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addressing this well-recognised \u2018valley of death\u2019 in industrial biotechnology has become a strategic investment focus for the Scottish Government and a central element of the nation\u2019s commitment to reaching net zero by 2045.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mark Bustard, CEO of IBioIC,<\/strong> said: \u201cThe new fermenter will provide a significant boost for Scotland\u2019s bioeconomy, offering the vital scale-up infrastructure that many companies need to take the next step. It enables a smoother transition from lab research to industrial production, giving businesses greater confidence and credibility as they seek investment to scale. Beyond that, it also reinforces Scotland\u2019s reputation as a hub for sustainable innovation and a leading destination for producing bio-based products and materials.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The support from Scottish Enterprise will help accelerate the growth of industrial biotechnology in Scotland through the new fermenter facility. It also helps address the investment challenges in the industry and the access issues faced by aspiring bio-based manufacturing companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Adrian Gillespie, CEO at Scottish Enterprise<\/strong>, said: \u201cProviding access to cutting-edge equipment, like this fermenter, is a vital step in supporting Scotland\u2019s bio-based manufacturers to reach their full potential. Using these facilities will help ambitious spinouts, start-ups and smaller companies to scale up, accelerating their journey from the lab to full-scale production. At Scottish Enterprise, we\u2019re focused on helping more companies to scale, creating more high-quality jobs and economic growth for Scotland.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

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\u00a9 Scottish Enterprise<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
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About the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC) was established in 2014 to stimulate growth of the Industrial Biotechnology (IB) in Scotland.  IBioIC is recognised as a European centre of excellence and connects world-leading industry with outstanding academic expertise and government to bring new IB processes and products to the global market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IBioIC is a key driver of Scotland\u2019s National Plan for Industrial Biotechnology, which recently set a new target of \u00a31.2 billion in associated turnover and 4,000 direct employees by 2025 for the industry in Scotland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IBioIC facilitates collaboration, provides scale-up capabilities, creates networks and develops skills and training provisions. IBioIC has 230+ industry members, over 70% of which are SME or micro companies. To date, IBioIC has provided support for more than 260 companies, across a range of collaborative innovation projects, fostering academic-business partnership and co-funded by business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A total investment of \u00a36.8 million to date has leveraged an additional \u00a335 million from businesses, follow-on funding from other sources or partnering with other funding initiatives. As a direct outcome from the collaborative projects funded alone, 327 high value green jobs have been protected or created by the businesses involved, leading to a further 3,000 jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IBioIC has supported 500+ students through its skills and training partnerships across 18 Universities and research institutes and four Further Education Colleges in Scotland. www.IBioIC.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

About Scottish Enterprise<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Scottish Enterprise (SE<\/a>) is Scotland\u2019s national economic development agency and a non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government.  It supports businesses to innovate and scale to transform the Scottish economy by focusing on new market opportunities through targeted investment, innovation and internationalisation. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Located at FlexBIO, the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre\u2019s (IBioIC) scale-up facility at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, installation of the new fermenter was made possible by a \u00a3847,000 grant from Scottish Enterprise, Scotland\u2019s national economic development agency. The launch event, which took place across FlexBIO and the National Robotarium, brought together key industry stakeholders for a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":164149,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"The installation of a new fermenter will provide a significant boost for Scotland\u2019s bioeconomy, offering the vital scale-up infrastructure that many companies need to take the next step","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[5838,22614,5796,16171,11615],"supplier":[10205,6780,26471,3183,9530],"class_list":["post-164128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-bioeconomy","tag-biofeedstocks","tag-biotechnology","tag-fermentation","tag-microorganisms","supplier-heriot-watt-university-edinburgh","supplier-biotechnology-innovation-centre","supplier-national-robotarium","supplier-scottish-enterprise","supplier-the-scottish-government"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164128"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=164128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}