Key Takeaways
- Zymofix, a Flemish biotech company specialising in solid-state fermentation, has secured €1.9 million in funding from VLAIO, the Flemish Agency for Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
- The grant supports MicroFix, a €3.2 million collaborative research project with Prof. Tina Kyndt at Ghent University's Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, running over three years.
- MicroFix aims to establish a scientific framework linking Zymofix's manufacturing conditions to microbial traits, crop performance, and product reliability — addressing the unpredictability that has limited microbial product adoption in agriculture.
- At the core of the project is Zyft, Zymofix's solid-state fermentation platform, which uses thermally processed agricultural sidestreams as both a growth substrate and formulation matrix.
- The project is also expected to create high-skilled R&D jobs and support the valorisation of agricultural sidestreams within Flanders' bioeconomy.
Zymofix Secures €1.9 Million to Research Microbial Product Performance
Belgian biotech company Zymofix has received €1.9 million in funding from VLAIO, the Flemish Agency for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, to support MicroFix — a €3.2 million collaborative research project with Ghent University. The three-year project, led in partnership with Prof. Tina Kyndt from the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, will focus on building a scientific foundation for more predictable microbial product performance in agricultural applications.
Microbial solutions are increasingly recognised as a key component of sustainable agriculture, but their real-world performance can be difficult to predict. MicroFix takes a manufacturing-centred approach to this challenge, investigating how the production process itself influences microbial physiology, functional traits, and eventual effectiveness in the field.
Understanding How Manufacturing Shapes Microbial Function
Rather than focusing solely on strain selection — the conventional approach in microbial product development — MicroFix centres on understanding the relationship between production conditions and microbial output. Over three years, Zymofix and Ghent University will draw on expertise in microbiology, plant science, and modelling to develop a data-driven framework that connects manufacturing variables to measurable microbial traits and crop responses under both abiotic and biotic stress conditions.
“Microbial solutions have enormous potential, but their performance is still too unpredictable. With MicroFix, we aim to understand how our manufacturing technology (Zyft) influences microbial function, allowing us to design more reliable and effective biological products,” said Emile Redant, CEO of Zymofix.
The Zymofix Zyft Platform and Agricultural Sidestreams
Central to the MicroFix project is Zyft, Zymofix's proprietary solid-state fermentation platform. Unlike conventional liquid fermentation systems, Zyft cultivates microorganisms on thermally processed solid substrates derived from agricultural sidestreams, which serve as both the growth medium and the formulation matrix for the final product. This approach allows the production substrate to remain part of the delivered formulation, with implications for product stability and field performance.
MicroFix will investigate how this integrated production and formulation approach shapes microbial traits and determines how those traits translate into plant responses in the field. The project will also contribute to the scientific case for using agricultural sidestreams in biological production systems more broadly, supporting a more circular approach to agricultural inputs. Beyond its scientific objectives, the project is expected to strengthen Flanders' expertise in microbial biotechnology and support the creation of high-skilled R&D employment in the region.
