Aphea.Bio Wins VLAIO Grant to Scale Biological Solutions for Farmers
Aphea.Bio wins VLAIO grant to evolve from pioneer to powerhouse in biological solutions for farmers
Aphea.Bio, a leading innovator in microbial solutions for sustainable agriculture, has secured a research grant from VLAIO (Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship) to launch TRΛNSCEND, a transformative platform that builds on the company’s established work in developing sustainable crop protection agents.
The global agricultural biologicals market is projected to exceed $8.2 billion by 2027, driven by the demand for sustainable and user-safe crop protection and nutrition solutions. The TRΛNSCEND platform directly addresses this need through accelerating and scaling Aphea.Bio’s research into Microbial Natural Products (MNPs), bioactive compounds from microbial fermentation extracts that offer greater efficacy and longer-lasting protection than living microorganisms. This platform will allow the company to bring farmers high-performance, sustainable solutions more quickly and efficiently.
CEO Isabel Vercauteren said: “TRΛNSCEND takes us to the next frontier in biological crop protection. MNPs can deliver the performance farmers need while helping agriculture transition to more sustainable farming practices.”
The VLAIO-funded TRΛNSCEND project will establish Aphea.Bio as a leading innovator in MNP-based research by:
- -- Building in-house capabilities for automated and high-throughput MNP production and testing capabilities to speed up discovery cycles.
- -- Screening 5,000 proprietary MNPs to pinpoint the most effective biocontrol agents.
- -- Characterizing the candidate products in the richly filled R&D pipeline by optimizing their growth and nutrient conditions during fermentation, to maximally boost MNP production.
- -- Simulating field-like conditions in climate chambers to ensure reliability under agronomically relevant stress conditions.
- -- Advancing selected high-potential candidates to product development within two years.
TRΛNSCEND marks a decisive shift to fully integrated, in-house MNP capabilities, enabling maximal control over quality, scalability, and speed to market.
Leveraging its APEXbio™ technology platform and a proprietary library of more than 15,000 microbial strains, Aphea.Bio is operating an innovation engine capable of delivering up to 30 new biological products over the next eight years.
“By enhancing our high-throughput MNP production and optimisation, we strengthen our pipeline, reduce costs, and ensure scalability from the earliest stages of development,” said Steven Vandenabeele, CTO of Aphea.Bio. “This positions us to deliver best-in-class biological products that address the evolving needs of global agriculture.”
About Aphea.Bio
Aphea.Bio is dedicated to discovering, developing, and commercializing innovative biological products to advance sustainable agriculture. We create natural solutions suitable for the conventional crop protection and fertilizer markets. With a growing portfolio of biostimulants and biocontrol solutions, the company supports farmers in protecting yields and improving soil health.
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