Surfactants, used to decrease surface or interfacial tensions, have
multiple uses in the chemical industry. Their industrial applications include
household detergents, cosmetics, and agriculture. Holiferm Ltd, a
Manchester-based company, is looking to move away from non-fossil-based
chemical surfactants by developing and supplying sustainable, fermentation-derived
ingredients for industrial and consumer products.
Holiferm has developed commercially viable, continuous manufacturing
processes for biosurfactants and lipids that are able to deliver green products
to the mass market at volume, and at competitive prices. The company’s patented
integrated gravity separation and fermentation technology increases
fermentation process productivity fourfold and reduces biosurfactant production
costs by more than 50%.
Vicky De Groof joined Holiferm as a fermentation engineer. Within a year
she had become the company’s Chief Technology Officer, responsible for a team
of 10 people. Vicky then joined the Shott Scale Up Accelerator programme in
2022, and says, “I hope the networking opportunities and workshops will allow
me to meet others, create new ideas, widen my perspectives, build my business
confidence and lead to serendipitous findings.”
Holiferm is aiming to persuade the £27 billion surfactant market to move
away from petroleum-based chemicals to biobased, sustainable alternatives. In
2021, the company started the year with a team of 10 and a pilot plant. By the
end of that year, it had raised over £7 million of investment, increased the team
to 20 people, and started to build a commercial plant.
Now, it is developing and refining new processes, doubling the team
count again and generating a clear product pipeline. Holiferm’s fermentation
technology will enable it to produce other types of biosurfactants and fermentation-derived
chemicals that will help transform the chemical industry
into a more sustainable one.