With a media centric approach and modified fungal strains for precision fermentation, we establish sustainable production of animal-identical food proteins based on bio-residuals from agriculture, food- and biotech industry.

By utilizing technology and knowledge from Denmark's biotech and pharma, UPCYFUN will create a new fermentation industry for food based on sustainable production media. This requires new collaborations across existing sectors and the creation of a completely new value chain.
The UPCYFUN project, led by ProteinFrontiers and collaborating with DTU, AAU, Vestjyllands Andel, LYRAS, Danish Technological Institute, HNH-Consult and Pixinno.
The UPCYFUN-project is supported by Innovations Fund Denmark

Network – Feed stock for cell cultured food
The network facilitates collaboration between stakeholders in the value chain of upcycling residual biostreams and crops as a replacement for refined sugars, which are current energy source for microbes and cells. The ambition is to transform technology and knowledge from enzymes and pharmaceutical industries into a new fermentation industry for food, based on sustainable bio-streams for producing growth media. The network goes across value chains, science and technologies. The network focuses on industrial production of growth media for biomass and precision fermentation, as well as cultured meat and fish.
The vision is to develop a food-grade Danish growth media industry to produce food on less agricultural land with a smaller climate and environmental footprint.

The Network – Feed stock industry for cell cultured food production is supported by GUDP
This requires as a starting point a comprehensive overview of and knowledge about local side (bio)streams from agriculture, food and industry. For example molasses, vinasse, spent yeast from the brewery/biotech industry, permeate from whey protein production, brown juice from beet tops/grass protein production, potato juice, etc. This knowledge does not exist today and requires a total mapping of availability, quantities, season, delivery as well as a characterization of these regarding nutrient content and possible toxins.
Project supported by:
The network will connect the Danish resource base and bridge the gap between research, innovation, production, and the market.
The network's aim is to highlight opportunities and barriers to novel foods based on sustainable production of milk proteins through precision fermentation.
The network is a pre-competitive forum across sciences, trade associations, businesses, consumers, and authorities. The network will produce a "roadmap" for building a Danish cellular food production with a focus on milk protein. We work throughout the value chain for alternative milk proteins.

The Network Animal Free Protein – Fermentation Produced Milk Protein is supported by GUDP
The project develops methods for up-cycling local agro-industrial biostreams as an affordable and sustainable fermentation substrate for the production of food proteins, e.g. betalactoglobulin. We develop biostreams and production organisms to match.
The partners in the project are:
ProteinFrontiers, 21st. Bio, Nordic Sugar, Aalborg University, Danish Technological Institute

BioFerment is supported by BIOSOLUTIONS ZEALAND



Lasse Solheim
Senior Advisor, MSc Agriculture
Phone: +45 2395 2151
Email: solheim@proteinfrontiers.dk

Morten Meldgaard
Innovation and digital lead, PhD biochemistry
Phone: +45 2249 5113
Email: mm@proteinfrontiers.dk

Jan Hansen
Knowledge System Architect
Phone: 53390174
Email: jh@proteinfrontiers.dk


Niels Kristian Sørensen
R&D, PhD Dairy Science & Technology
Phone: +45 4080 9930
Email: nks@proteinfrontiers.dk


Henriette Gavlshøj Mortensen
Business Development Lead, PhD Nanoscience
Phone: +45 20414025
Email: hgm@proteinfrontiers.dk

