Improving the Fermentation of Filamentous Fungi

Formo, a European cellular agriculture company, with an interest in developing cultivated dairy products, are seeking collaborative opportunities involved in improving the fermentation of filamentous fungal strains.

In particular, our client is interested in submerged, solid-state or semi-solid-state fermentation methods for the production of fats and recombinant proteins; however, they are also interested in academic expertise and Centres of Excellence in sustainable approaches to advance the animal‑free dairy market.

Fermentation methods should:

• Involve strains of filamentous fungi with a biosafety level 1 (BSL1), these should be approved for human consumption or have received GRAS status; strains of particular interest include but are not limited to Aspergillus ssp., Trichoderma reesei, Penicillium ssp., and Talaromyces ssp.
• Be cost-efficient e.g. use of cost-efficient growth media
• Increase yield and biomass production
• Have cost-efficient downstream processing (DSP)
• Utilise a scalable process
• Increase potential to patent the output

Out of Scope

• Approaches requiring animal-derived ingredients

Stage of Development

The client is interested in filamentous fungi fermentation approaches that have undergone testing. Ideally, technologies will be able to reach TRL8‑9 within 2-5 years, making those at TRL5-6 preferred, however, opportunities TRL3+ are still of interest and will be considered. 

Submission Information

Submission of one page, 200-300 word briefs are encouraged. Along with any optional supplementary information e.g. relevant publications and patents. In submitting to this campaign, you confirm that your submission contains only non-confidential information.

Potential Collaborations for Academics

Our client is open to a range of collaboration opportunities, with the most appropriate outcome being decided on a case-by-case basis. Example outcomes include licensing assets, research collaborations, project/PhD/Post‑Doc funding and consulting agreements.