Our portfolio
Allylix, based in San Diego, California and Lexington, Kentucky, is a developer of fine chemicals and related products for the flavour and fragrance, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and agriculatural markets. Allylix's technology plaform allows terpenes, a class of natural products which give plants their characteristic flavours and frangrances, to be produced via fermentation in yeast. Allylix's technology replaces the costly and laborious extraction of terpenes from plants and enables cost effective production of flavours and fragrances for use in perfumes, personal care, food and household products.
Aquapharm Biodiscovery Ltd, based at the European Centre for Marine Biotechnology in Oban, Scotland, develops natural products from the microbial resource of the sea and has commercial interests ranging from ingredients for the nutraceutical and cosmeceutical markets to anti-infective drug discovery. By applying its proprietary technology the company has been able to culture previously unculturable microbes and has built a substantial and specialised library of bacteria and fungi. By applying patented fermentation technology to its microbial library, Aquapharm also has the means to develop new classes of industrial products (pigments, antioxidants etc) that can be produced organically without the need to use petrochemicals.
BioFilm, based in Hamilton, Scotland, was established in 2003 to build on its previous owner's, Devro plc, expertise in thin film technology. BioFilm develops and manufactures fast dissolving films used for food supplements and medical device applications. With its unique technology platform and EFSIS Accredited manufacturing plant, BioFilm produces high quality differentiated strips and innovative products based on soluble thin films. BioFilm's skills and expertise allow this novel delievery system to be adapted to a wide variety of applications.
Fugeia, based in Leuven Belgium, is a newly formed functional food technology business with a focus on gut health. A spin-out from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, the first product in Fugeia's pipeline is a proprietary, patent-protected arabinoxylan oligosaccharide ingredient derived from natural wheat bran fibre, with potent prebiotic and antioxidant functionality. This soluble and acid stable ingredient is metabolised by the gut microbiota predominantly in the distal colon, an area of the digestive tract that is vulnerable to disease and often not addressed by other prebiotic fibres.
Lumora Ltd., a spin out from Cambridge University, has developed a revolutionary DNA-based test that will identify and measure specific food borne pathogens within a matter of hours. The Lumora test is extremely rapid, highly sensitive and, importantly for the food sector, cost effective and easy to use. The investment by Tate & Lyle Ventures will enable Lumora to produce its next generation prototypes for the food sector, and expand its technology into a variety of additional applications.