Microalgae, reimagined.
Towards a new era of algae fermentation.
What can our biotech platform deliver?
1. Bioactive ingredient sales
From single ingredients to complete formulations – B2B.
We don’t just supply raw algae ingredients. We build formulations that combine bioactive algal compounds for targeted effects: gut health and antioxidant support for human nutrition, tailored blends for dietary supplements, nutrient-dense formulas for pet nutrition, and active compounds for cosmetic applications.
Best for: brands that want a nutrition partner, not just a supplier.
2. Strain & technology licensing
You manufacture.
We license.
License a proprietary strain, a fermentation process, or both, and scale it in your facilities: exclusive rights, full technical transfer, and hands-on support to get your team producing at spec. You pay one upfront fee, plus a royalty tied to your success, with ongoing support as the partnership matures.
Best for: manufacturers and ingredient companies who want to scale production themselves.
3. Strain & technology services
Your target.
Our know-how.
You set the target, we hit it: higher DHA, greater protein content, richer pigment composition, better yield, increased stress tolerance, whatever the spec calls for. Fixed fee, fixed timeline, full technical handover, and you walk away owning complete commercial rights to what we deliver, no royalties, no strings attached.
Best for: companies needing a specific problem solved once, with full IP ownership.
How we're constantly improving our platform for sustainability:
Towards a more
regenerative process through
agro-industrial sidestreams
We’re moving fermentation feedstock away from conventional inputs and onto low-cost, agro-industrial carbon sources, like rice grits, potato starch, and molasses, that would otherwise go to waste. It’s frontier work in circular bioprocessing: a lower-cost, lower-impact way to grow the same strains at scale.
Towards smarter biomass fermentation through AI-powered process control
We’re building an AI-powered fermentation monitoring system around real-time Raman spectroscopy, pushing past what’s standard in the industry to get a live analytical read on every batch. The target: cut batch-to-batch quality variation from as high as 40% down to below 5%, so scale-up doesn’t mean losing consistency, or paying a premium for it.
Towards a new era
of algae cultivation,
sustainable by design.
Most microalgae are photoautotrophic: they need light and large open surfaces to grow, which limits how sustainably they can scale. We instead adapt strains to heterotrophic conditions, developing variants that grow on a carbon source in closed fermenters, making the process less resource-intensive than conventional cultivation.
Meet Our Team
Our dedicated team holds interdisciplinary, scientific, technical, financial and market-driven expertise.
Amikam Bar-Gil, PhD
Co-Founder & CEO
Fundraising and investor relations, facility development
Benjamin Schmid, MSc.
Co-Founder & COO
Product and business development and operational activities
Peter S.C. Schulze, PhD
Co-Founder & CTO
R&D management, public funding acquisition, business development
Lisa M. Schüler , PhD
CSO
Fermentation, strain improvement and bioprocessing
Nina Solyukova Schulze, MSc
Co-Founder & CFO
Administration, cash flow
management, tax strategy and optimisation
Tânia Palma, PhD
Scientist
Bioprocess development, microbiology, environmental biotechnology
Redefining the future of nutrition via microalgae.
Microalgae hold answers to some of nutrition’s hardest problems, but only if they can be produced at scale without the cost and footprint of traditional cultivation. That’s the gap Phycoferm aims to close.
We’ve built a non-GMO, heterotrophic biomass fermentation platform, which can serve in various ways. The applications span human nutrition, dietary supplements, pet nutrition, and cosmetics. We’re building this with investors who want to be part of that shift. Reach out to us at info@phycoferm.com
Our recent activities
Labena VC Bootcamp
The Green 100
Blue Bio Value Ideation
Med Tech World 2024
Research and Innovation Projects
INNOVALG
Learn More »
Benjamin Schmid, MSc.
Co-Founder & COO
Peter Schulze, PhD
Co-Founder & CSO
Our Vision
To become a leading industrial provider of healthy & bioactive algae-based ingredients, catalysing sustainable nutrition worldwide.
Our Mission
Empowering health and wellbeing with novel algae-based food ingredients, using soilless, and circular production approaches.
Contact
PhycoFerm Lda.
Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, Pavilhão B1, Gab. E6 (CRIA)
8005-139 Faro
Portugal