Industrial biotechnology companies use biological systems and processes to manufacture sustainable products, chemicals, materials and fuels. The sector aims to reduce reliance on fossil resources while improving production efficiency and environmental outcomes.
This category includes companies working on:
Browse 134 UK industrial biotechnology companies below.
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…
Yeast strain engineering platform for recombinant protein biomanufacturing
Phenotypeca is a synthetic biology company that engineers baker's yeast strains for the production of recombinant proteins, biosimilars, and vaccine antigens. Using proprietary quantitative trait loci technology, the company generates and screens large libraries of yeast variants to identify production strains with…
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…
Biological sensors that detect early crop stress signals
Viridys Bio is a synthetic biology company developing non-GMO biosensors that detect volatile organic compounds released by stressed plants. The sensors give a visual colour change alert before pest or disease symptoms become visible, allowing growers to intervene earlier and more precisely. Designed to require no…
Genetically engineered insects for sustainable pest and disease vector control
Flyttr is an Oxfordshire-based biotechnology company developing biological solutions for sustainable pest management. Its core technology uses genetically engineered insects carrying a self-limiting gene to suppress populations of disease-transmitting and crop-damaging pests without chemicals or harm to non-target…
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…
Biological nitrogen fixation technology for sustainable crop production
Azotic Technologies is an agricultural biotechnology company developing and commercialising microbial biological inputs for crop nutrition. Using a patented strain of the nitrogen-fixing bacterium Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus, which colonises plant cells to fix atmospheric nitrogen systemically across foliage and…
Peptide biopesticides for precision pest control in agriculture
SOLASTA Bio is a biotechnology company developing nature-inspired peptide insect control agents as sustainable alternatives to synthetic chemical pesticides. Its discovery platform identifies and optimises neuropeptide-based compounds that selectively target pest insects via a novel mode of action, while remaining…
Plant-based polymer products and sustainable plastics alternatives
Candee is a UK bio-based materials brand within HOL Group, commercialising alternatives to conventional fossil-derived plastic products. Using a plant-based polymer blend formulated by an external materials partner, it engineers and supplies moulded and printed products for retail, packaging, healthcare and industrial…
Compostable polymer materials produced through microbial fermentation
Shellworks is a materials biotechnology company that develops and manufactures a bio-based, home-compostable polymer produced through microbial fermentation of plant-derived waste feedstocks. The polymer is formulated to replicate the functional properties of conventional plastic while biodegrading fully in home…
AI-driven skin microbiome platform for skincare and drug discovery
Biotix is a biotechnology company applying artificial intelligence and microbiome science to discover and develop novel approaches for skin health. Its AI platform analyses proprietary microbiome and clinical datasets to identify beneficial skin microbes and their metabolites, supporting both a commercial skincare…
Natural polymer films and coatings replacing conventional plastics
MarinaTex is an industrial biomaterials company developing natural polymer alternatives to plastic packaging and agricultural coatings. Its platform transforms polymers derived from marine and plant sources into barrier films, recyclable paper coatings and dissolvable formats. Development programmes also include…
Plant physiology research and functional crop nutrition products
Levity Crop Science is a Lancashire agricultural technology company developing bioactive fertilisers and crop-enhancement formulations through plant physiology research. Its Lono, Albina and Indra products target nutrient uptake, calcium transport, crop quality and stress tolerance. The company combines controlled…
Aquaculture selective breeding, genomics and genotyping services
Benchmark Genetics is an aquaculture biotechnology company developing improved farmed fish and shellfish stocks through selective breeding and genomics. It supplies genetically selected Atlantic salmon eggs and shrimp genetics and provides genotyping, breeding programme design, genomic selection and genetics services…
Microalgal fermentation for sustainable EPA omega-3 and protein
AlgiSys develops fermentation-based biotechnology for producing eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) omega-3 oils and protein-rich biomass from microalgae. Its proprietary heterotrophic algal strains grow in industrial fermentation systems without light, offering an alternative to extracting omega-3 ingredients from fish or…
Bio-based polyurethane alternatives from agricultural waste and seaweed
AlGreen is an industrial biotechnology company developing bio-based alternatives to petroleum-derived polyurethanes, which account for approximately 8% of global plastics. Using biotechnology, chemistry, and materials science, the company synthesises fully biodegradable, high-performance polyurethane substitutes from…
AI-driven precision fermentation for sustainable ingredients
Twig Bio is a bioengineering company using AI and laboratory automation to develop sustainable, bio-fermented alternatives to petrochemical and agriculturally derived ingredients. Its platform combines machine learning-guided pathway design with high-throughput robotic strain building and screening, enabling rapid…