Zymofix, a Flemish biotech company developing next-generation solid-state fermentation technologies, has secured €1.9 million from the Flemish Agency for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (VLAIO) to support a collaborative research project aimed at making biological crop inputs more predictable.
The funding will support MicroFix, a €3.2 million project being conducted with Professor Tina Kyndt and her team at Ghent University’s Faculty of Bioscience Engineering.
Rather than focusing solely on discovering new microbial strains, the project will investigate how the manufacturing process itself affects microbial physiology, functional traits and, ultimately, product performance in the field.
Building the scientific foundations for biologicals
Performance variability remains one of the key barriers to wider adoption of biological products in agriculture.
While microbial solutions are increasingly viewed as an important part of more sustainable crop production systems, their effectiveness can vary depending on environmental conditions and application contexts.
Zymofix said the MicroFix project is designed to address this challenge by creating a data-driven framework linking manufacturing conditions to microbial characteristics and crop performance.
“Microbial solutions have enormous potential, but their performance is still too unpredictable,” said Emile Redant, CEO of Zymofix.
“With MicroFix, we aim to understand how our manufacturing technology influences microbial function, allowing us to design more reliable and effective biological products.”
Over the next three years, researchers will combine expertise in microbiology, plant science and modelling to investigate how traits measured under controlled conditions translate into plant responses under biotic and abiotic stress.
Focus on solid-state fermentation
At the centre of the research is Zyft, Zymofix’s proprietary solid-state fermentation platform.
Unlike conventional liquid fermentation systems, the technology grows microorganisms on thermally processed solid substrates derived from agricultural sidestreams, which can remain part of the final product formulation.
The company believes a deeper understanding of how this production method influences microbial traits, stability and efficacy could help improve the consistency of biological products while creating additional value from agricultural waste streams.
Strengthening the bioeconomy
Beyond generating scientific insights, Zymofix said the project is expected to support the development of microbial biotechnology expertise in Flanders, create skilled R&D jobs and contribute to the wider transition towards circular agricultural production systems.
For the biologicals sector, however, the most significant outcome may be the creation of a stronger scientific foundation for understanding why microbial products perform well in some situations but not others; a question that has long hindered confidence in biological crop inputs among growers and agronomists.
If successful, Zymofix said the project could help move the industry closer to a future in which biological products are not only more sustainable, but also more predictable.
