From Lab to Market: Denmark’s World-Class Infrastructure for Biosolutions Innovations
From Lab to Market: Denmark’s World-Class Infrastructure for Biosolutions Innovations

Insight

From Lab to Market: Denmark's World-Class Infrastructure for Biosolutions Innovations

Insight

From Lab to Market: Denmark's World-Class Infrastructure for Biosolutions Innovations

Denmark is positioning itself as a global hub for biosolutions – established and emerging biotechnological solutions that transform industries. From food production and agriculture to environmental protection, energy, and industrial processing, biosolutions drive sustainable change. 

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Denmark offers strategic advantages for scaling biosolutions, which is why start-ups continue to be spun out of universities and attract domestic and foreign capital. One of the most compelling things in Denmark is the integrated development pathway, based on continued investments into fermentation infrastructure that offers companies a unique environment to test, refine, and scale their technologies. 

 

 

“Denmark stands as a global leader in biosolutions. Our world-class facilities reinforce this position by providing cutting-edge infrastructure, expert knowledge, and a seamless transition from research to industrial-scale production. For companies looking to scale their biosolutions efficiently and sustainably, Denmark offers an unparalleled ecosystem that fosters collaboration, accelerates commercialisation, and drives global impact.” 

Vanessa Vega Saenz

Director, Invest in Denmark

To further strengthen Denmark’s biosolutions infrastructure, the Danish government  has recently announced an additional investment of DKK 60 million (EUR 8.05 million) to expand test, development, and demonstration facilities. This initiative aims to enhance Denmark’s ability to support companies in scaling their technologies, ensuring that both start-ups and established players have access to world-class capabilities within precision fermentation and CO2-to-protein conversion.

Whether a company is focused on fermentation, enzymatic processes, microbial solutions, or biomass valorisation, there is an infrastructure in place to support its development. 

Overview of available facilities in Denmark 

Finding the right facility is crucial for efficient development. To navigate the ecosystem, businesses can refer to a comprehensive overview of available facilities. The list provides a detailed mapping of Denmark’s testing and scale-up resources, enabling companies to identify the best partners and facilities for their unique requirements, thereby ensuring efficient and successful product development.

Each facility offers a unique scale of fermentation systems coupled with tailor-made services to help companies solve technical and commercial challenges.  

Here are some of the facilities

Biosolutions Technology Center (BTC)

The center is operated by the Danish Technological Institute, and serves as an innovation hub equipped with a food-approved laboratory, a biorefinery pilot plant, and a biofermentation pilot plant. BTC provides state-of-the-art fermentation infrastructure, with the largest bioreactor offering a capacity of up to 2,000L. This comprehensive setup enables companies to develop, test, validate, and scale-up biosolutions products and processes, in a controlled environment, facilitating the transition from conceptualisation to market-ready solutions.

FermHub Zealand

FermHub Zealand is Denmark’s largest demonstration and scale-up plant for biosolutions, enabling companies to refine their technologies as they transition from laboratory to larger-scale production. The facility supports a wide range of applications, including food ingredients, feed, packaging, construction materials, and biological plant protection. The facility features multiple bioreactors, with the largest reaching a capacity of 5,000L. FermHub Zealand provides the infrastructure needed to test, optimise, and scale fermentation-based processes across various industries.

The Pilot Plant and Pre-Pilot Plant

The Pilot Plant and Pre-Pilot Plant at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) provide advanced infrastructure for scaling bioprocesses. The Pilot Plant focuses on transitioning from laboratory to pilot scale, emphasising industrial practices, process optimisation, and innovative technologies, particularly within fermentation and particle technology. Equipped with bioreactors of up to 200L capacity, it supports the development of efficient and scalable bioproduction methods. Complementing this, the Pre-Pilot Plant specialises in early-stage process development, bridging the gap between research and industrial application. With fermentation capacities ranging from 1L to 100L, it enables the optimisation of cell factories and bioprocesses, preparing them for early commercial-level performance.

21st.BIO

21st.BIO offers a comprehensive pilot plant facility designed to assist companies in scaling their bioproduction processes. The facility includes bioreactors of various sizes, with the largest offering a fermentation capacity of up to 1,200L. It provides full industrial production setups – but down-sized to a pilot scale – enabling efficient process optimisation and seamless transition to large-scale manufacturing. It is equipped to handle a diverse range of applications, such as nutrition, food and beverages, agriculture, biomaterials, and biopharma. 

Biosolutions opportunities from the Food & Bio Cluster Denmark

get the full list

The full overview covers sites where investment has been made into creating additional fermentation capacity through the Biosolutions Lighthouse project, a major initiative to support infrastructure development in Denmark. The overview also includes additional resources found across Denmark, from niche applications to educational resources for attracting talent, such as Bioneer A/S, Asumgaard, Aarhus University, Copenhagen University, and others. 

Click to access the overview of Danish biosolutions sites

Financial support

Denmark also provides a supportive financial framework for biosolutions enterprises. Programs like the voucher scheme grant companies access to testing facilities, reducing the capital investment required for early-stage testing and scale-up. This support enables start-ups and SMEs to develop and validate their technologies without the financial risks associated with establishing proprietary pilot facilities.

Learn more about the voucher system here

get in touch

Want to learn more about biosolutions in Denmark?

For companies and investors ready to explore Denmark’s biosolutions opportunities, Invest in Denmark is ready to facilitate connections, provide strategic insights, and guide you through establishing operations in this thriving innovation hub. Contact us today to discover how Denmark can serve as the foundation for your next biosolutions breakthrough.

Copenhagen

  • Sarina Lohmann

    Title: Special Advisor – Maritime and transport – Analysis & Partnerships

    Area: Copenhagen

    Phone: +4533920423

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