Fermentation companies use microorganisms and controlled biological processes to produce proteins, ingredients, chemicals, materials and other valuable products. Their technologies support biotechnology, food production, industrial manufacturing and the transition towards more sustainable production methods.
This category includes companies working on:
Browse 72 UK fermentation companies below.
Microbially produced leather alternative for luxury fashion
Replica Biomaterials is an industrial biotechnology company developing sustainable leather alternatives using engineered microbes. Its fermentation-based platform grows microbial biomaterials that are animal-free and petrochemical-free, with built-in customisable colour, eliminating the tanning and dyeing processes…
AI-designed protein fibres as sustainable alternatives to synthetic textiles
Solena Materials is an industrial biotechnology company developing a new class of protein-based fibres for the fashion and performance apparel sectors. Using proprietary deep learning models and computational protein design, the company engineers novel proteins from first principles, which are then produced using…
Bacterial bioinoculant replacing synthetic nitrogen fertiliser in crops
NetZeroNitrogen is a biotechnology company developing a biological alternative to synthetic nitrogen fertiliser based on a naturally occurring endophytic bacterium that fixes atmospheric nitrogen within plant cells. The technology is designed to reduce dependence on synthetic nitrogen inputs, lowering associated…
Researching scalable cell-based food manufacturing technologies
CARMA (Cellular Agriculture Manufacturing Hub) is an EPSRC-funded, University of Bath-led research collaboration developing manufacturing technologies for cellular agriculture. Its researchers investigate animal cell culture, microbial fermentation, bioreactor design and scale-up methods for producing food ingredients…
Microbial fermentation platforms for sustainable commodity chemicals
C3 Biotechnologies is a UK industrial biotechnology company engineering microbial strains and fermentation processes to convert waste carbon streams into bio-based commodity chemicals and sustainable fuels. Operating from a pilot plant in Stockport, the company uses synthetic biology and continuous fermentation under…
Directed evolution platform engineering microbes for industrial biomanufacturing
Evolutor is a biotechnology company developing directed evolution technologies to enhance microbial performance for industrial biomanufacturing. Its proprietary genetic toolbox links bacterial cell fitness to recombinant protein production rates, generating evolved production strains with substantially improved…
Fermentation platform producing renewable xylitol from agricultural waste
ARCITEKBio is an industrial biotech company developing a fermentation-based manufacturing platform for renewable xylitol production. Using engineered yeast strains, the company converts agricultural and industrial waste streams, including wheat straw, wood pulp, and brewers' by-products, into a natural low-calorie…
Speciality enzyme discovery, development, and commercial-scale manufacture
Biocatalysts is a Welsh industrial biotechnology company specialising in the discovery, development, and commercial-scale manufacture of speciality enzymes. Operating from fermentation and downstream processing facilities in Nantgarw, the company serves food and beverage, pharmaceutical, and life science industries…
ML-guided strain engineering to optimise precision fermentation yields
Eden Genetics is a biotechnology company using machine learning to improve recombinant protein production through microbial strain engineering. Its computational platform analyses genetic and fermentation data to identify modifications intended to increase protein secretion and productivity in precision-fermentation…
Fermentation-derived aquatic parasite control and microalgal delivery technology
Sundew is a blue biotechnology company developing fermentation-derived products to control aquatic parasites and other ecosystem challenges. Its Biokos extract, produced from a naturally occurring marine microorganism, targets protozoan fish parasites including Ich and Cryptocaryon. Sundew is also developing…
Proprietary gene editing tools and strain development services
Forge Genetics is a contract research organisation developing and applying a proprietary gene-editing platform as an alternative to CRISPR-based approaches. The company provides strain development, specialised fermentation including gas fermentation, and metabolite analytics services for pharmaceutical and industrial…
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…
Capacitance-based biomass monitoring instruments for bioprocessing and brewing
Aber Instruments develops and manufactures online probes and instrumentation for real-time viable cell monitoring in bioprocessing and brewing applications. The company's capacitance-based technology measures live cell concentration in fermenters and bioreactors across yeast, bacterial, animal, insect and plant cell…
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.…
Bioprocess equipment supplier and maintenance services provider
BioProcess Engineering Services Limited (BPES) is a UK supplier of specialist equipment and support services to the biotechnology industry. It provides products and services across cell line development, upstream processing, and downstream processing workflows, serving pharmaceutical organisations, biotech companies,…
Biological medicines and vaccine manufacturing at Porton Down
Porton Biopharma is a government-owned biopharmaceutical company based at Porton Down, Wiltshire. It developed and manufactured biological medicines using microbial fermentation, including the UK's anthrax vaccine and Erwinase (crisantaspase), an enzyme therapy for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. In March 2025, the…
Microbial gas fermentation for carbon recycling and renewable fuels
LanzaTech is an industrial biotechnology company developing microbial gas-fermentation technology to convert waste carbon into ethanol and other chemicals. Its platform uses specialised acetogenic bacteria to process industrial off-gases and gasified waste, with applications in fuels, materials and chemical…
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…
Automated bioreactor system for microbial culturing and measurement
ogibiotec is a life science instrumentation company developing automated, modular bioreactor systems for microbial culturing. Its platform replicates manual flask-culturing workflows for bacteria, yeast, algae, and bacteriophage, integrating retrofittable modules for optical density, pH, dissolved oxygen, and…