Äio (pronounced I-oh) is the Estonian god of dreams. That seems like a fitting name for a start-up called ÄIO in a small Baltic country that has developed a process to turn agricultural waste like sawdust into fat for the food and cosmetics industries.
The process could be a way to reduce the world’s dependence on palm oil, which is a staple in food and cosmetics because of its emulsifying and preservative properties. Unfortunately, because this plant requires a hot, humid climate, this large-scale industry is also notorious for destroying rainforests and other sensitive ecosystems to make way for farms.
ÄIO was co-founded by biotechnology scientists Nemailla Bonturi and Petri-Jaan Lahtvee, based on Bonturi’s doctoral research. During her research, she invented a new microorganism, a yeast strain. Rather than consuming sugar and producing carbon dioxide or alcohol, as in bread or beer, this yeast consumes sugar and produces fat molecules. The company will be showing off its technology as part of the Startup Battlefield at this year’s TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco later this month.
Mr. Ratvi is a professor of food technology and bioengineering at Estonia’s Tallinn University of Technology, where he ran his own biotechnology lab with Mr. Bonturi, his first hire in 2016. She brought microorganisms and engineered their molecules to make them tough enough to manufacture.
Because Estonia has a large agricultural base of corn and other food grains, as well as sugarcane and timber, the lab studied how sugar produced from these agricultural waste streams feeds this microorganism. “We started working on it and developed metabolic engineering tools,” Rathvy told TechCrunch. The answer is that we can use up these sugars quite efficiently.
The molecule’s “fat profile is very similar to existing fats,” and in solid fat form it is probably “most similar to chicken fat,” says Latvee. However, it is also possible to modify the fermentation process to produce liquid oils, which could be a good alternative to industrial products such as canola and rapeseed oils.
In 2022, the founders recognized that they had a commercially viable solution and launched ÄIO with the hope of raising venture funding and establishing commercial partnerships to bring it to market. The company has raised approximately $7 million to date, and since its founding, it has established a methodology for developing precision fermented products, won the 2024 Baltic Sustainability Award, and signed agreements with more than 100 companies around the world interested in collaboration, the company said.
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“We do very extensive analysis after we manufacture the product, and so far we’ve found that the final product is at the same level as vegetable oil, excluding pesticides, and even purer,” Bonturi told TechCrunch.
Next, the company plans to build a facility to produce commercial quantities of the fat by 2027 and license the technology to other cosmetics and food manufacturers. Licenses will also need to be obtained in each country to sell the fat as food, likely starting with Singapore, which has a history of being more open to alternative food production products.
“Of course, this is a new type of food production method and it has to go through all the permits and analyses,” Bonturi said.
As such plans move forward, Bonturi said, “I want to show that two scientists from this small country might actually be able to do some good for the world, but that’s just my personal dream.”
If you want to learn more about ÄIO from the company itself, check out dozens of other companies, hear pitches, and hear from guest speakers on four different stages, attend Disrupt in San Francisco from October 27th to 29th. Click here for more information.