Bio-based product companies use biological processes and renewable feedstocks to create materials, chemicals and manufactured goods. These technologies provide alternatives to products traditionally derived from fossil fuels or resource-intensive industrial processes.
This category includes companies working on:
Browse 102 UK bio-based product companies below.
Generative AI and quantum chemistry platform for de novo enzyme design
Xyme is a biotechnology company developing a generative AI and quantum chemistry platform for designing novel enzymes from first principles. Its approach combines computational prediction with experimental validation to create enzymes that catalyse chemical reactions not found in nature. Applications span therapeutic…
Programmable biological manufacturing of sustainable designer chemicals
Lypo is an Edinburgh-based biotechnology company developing a platform for the programmable manufacture of high-performance chemicals from sustainable and waste-derived feedstocks. The company's designer molecules are being explored across multiple application areas, including cosmetics, polymers, cancer treatment and…
Bacteria-based platform for carbon-negative water treatment
Lux Biotech is an industrial biotechnology company developing bacteria-based products for water treatment and pollution remediation. Using organic waste effluents as bacterial feedstock, the company produces microbial solutions that replace chemicals in sewage and water treatment processes. The approach is…
Oxford University spinout producing cultivated beef and pork
Ivy Farm Technologies is a company developing cultivated meat using a non-GMO cell culture process originally developed at the University of Oxford. Its Oxford pilot plant operates a 600-litre bioreactor with capacity to produce 2.8 tonnes of cultivated meat annually, with products including beef burgers, sausages and…
Functional plant proteins from agricultural co-products
Bland Company is a food biotechnology business developing functional plant proteins from underused agricultural co-products. Its process isolates proteins from plant feedstocks and modifies their properties using protein chemistry, with a focus on solubility, emulsification, foaming and moisture retention. The…
Precision fermentation platform producing animal-free dairy proteins
Better Dairy is a biotechnology company using precision fermentation to produce animal-free dairy proteins including casein and osteopontin. By engineering yeast to express mammalian milk proteins, the company produces bioidentical ingredients that enable food manufacturers to make dairy products without livestock.…
Seaweed-derived biodegradable materials for sustainable packaging
Notpla is an industrial biotechnology company developing biodegradable packaging materials from seaweed and other plant-derived polymers. Its technology uses natural biopolymers to create edible liquid capsules, flexible films, protective coatings and moulded materials designed to replace conventional plastic…
Cultivated chicken meat produced from egg cells for pet food
Meatly is a cellular agriculture company producing cultivated chicken meat for the pet food industry. Using cells taken from a chicken egg, the company grows real chicken protein in bioreactors using a proprietary protein-free culture medium, without slaughter, GMOs, or antibiotics. In 2024 Meatly became the first…
Molecular farming platform producing specialty proteins from crop leaves
Kyomei is a biotechnology company developing a molecular farming platform that genetically engineers crop plants to produce high-value specialty proteins in their leaves. The company extracts these proteins from agricultural leaf waste that would otherwise be discarded at harvest. Kyomei's ingredients target food…
Engineered gas fermentation converting industrial CO₂ into ethanol
Phase Biolabs is a Nottingham industrial biotechnology company using engineered microorganisms to convert waste carbon dioxide and hydrogen into ethanol. Its gas-fermentation platform is designed to attach to existing industrial facilities, turning emissions into chemicals and potential electrofuel feedstocks without…
Synthetic biology platform for sustainable biological textile dyeing
Colorifix is a UK biotechnology company applying synthetic biology to develop a biological dyeing process for the textile industry. The company engineers microorganisms to produce, deposit and fix pigments directly onto fabric, eliminating the need for toxic chemicals and reducing water and energy consumption compared…
Locally-adapted mycorrhizal fungi products for tree planting success
Rhizocore Technologies is a Scottish biotechnology company that produces locally-adapted mycorrhizal fungi products supporting tree planting and woodland restoration. Applied alongside saplings, its fungal products introduce ectomycorrhizal fungi that improve nutrient and water uptake, increasing survival rates and…
Living building materials and microbial construction biotechnology research
Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment is a Newcastle and Northumbria University research collaboration developing biologically enabled building materials and environmental technologies. Its work spans microbial mineralisation, self-healing construction materials, mycelium-based structures, building…
Plant-based expression platform for recombinant protein production
Bright Biotech is a UK CDMO developing and applying a proprietary plant-based expression system for the production of recombinant proteins. Its platform uses chloroplast engineering in tobacco plants to express high yields of target proteins, offering an animal-free and scalable alternative to conventional cell-based…
Fermentation-derived food ingredients from agricultural waste streams
Fermtech is a biotechnology company that applies solid-state fungal fermentation to upcycle agricultural and brewing waste streams into food ingredients. Its lead product is produced from cocoa shells using Aspergillus oryzae fermentation and functions as a lower-cost, lower-carbon cocoa-enhancing ingredient for…
Precision fermentation and bio-based ingredients for food and feed
Mycofeast is an Oxford-headquartered industrial biotechnology company developing fermentation-derived ingredients for human and animal nutrition. It combines precision and biomass fermentation with microbial strain development and bioprocess scale-up to develop functional beverage ingredients, dairy proteins,…
Cultivated animal fat ingredient for meat alternatives
Hoxton Farms is a cellular agriculture company producing cultivated pork fat as an ingredient for meat alternatives and processed food products. Using animal stem cells grown in proprietary bioreactors, the company produces real fat tissue without slaughter, guided by computational biology to optimise cell growth…
Precision fermentation platform for novel protein-based flavour ingredients
ReNewFood is an industrial biotech developing protein-based flavouring ingredients for the alternative food market using precision fermentation. Engineered microbial hosts serve as cell factories to produce flavour-active proteins, including molecules conferring meatiness, sweetness, and saltiness, identified through…
Fermentation-derived mycoprotein ingredient for sustainable food production
ENOUGH is a Glasgow-based industrial biotechnology company producing a complete protein ingredient made by fermenting fungi with grain-derived sugars. The zero-waste continuous fermentation process is integrated within existing biorefinery infrastructure, enabling large-scale production at competitive economics. Its…
Microbial conversion of biosolids into organic acids and nutrients
reNEW Technologies develops biological processes for recovering useful chemicals and nutrients from organic waste and sewage sludge. Its patented two-stage treatment combines fermentation and separation to produce volatile fatty acids and nutrient-rich fractions, which can be used in cleaning products, fertilisers and…