New production facility and 5.5 million euros in funding for MicroHarvest
The Hamburg-based biotech startup MicroHarvest is building its future production facility in the Chemical Park Leuna (Saxony-Anhalt). The company has received a grant of just under 5.5 million euros from the federal government's energy and resource efficiency programme to implement the project. MicroHarvest produces protein through biomass fermentation.
MicroHarvest is banking on rising demand for protein
The planned facility is designed for an annual capacity of 15,000 tonnes. An investment in the mid double-digit million range is planned, as well as the creation of around 25 new jobs. Production in Leuna is currently scheduled to start in around two years. Against the backdrop of rising global protein demand and fragile supply chains, MicroHarvest is scaling up its fermentation-based production, which uses by-products from the agricultural and food industry, primarily molasses from sugar production.
Before deciding on the Chemical Park, MicroHarvest examined around 40 locations in Europe. The decisive factors in Leuna were the existing infrastructure, the supply systems and the proximity to agricultural value chains and processing plants. This makes Leuna the startup's third location; it has been operating a pilot plant in Portugal since the end of 2023. The headquarters will remain in Hamburg, where business decisions are made and product development is driven forward. Currently, the protein, which is produced in powder form, is mainly used in animal feed, but the aim is to obtain approval for the general food market.
