Spearheaded by Scottish Government’s minister for small business, innovation, tourism and trade, Richard Lochhead, the money is poised to improve the landscape for bio-based businesses across the nation.

The capital will be channelled through Scottish Enterprise to the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC), and at the heart of the investment is the acquisition of a 300-litre fermenter slated to find its home at FlexBio – IBioIC’s scale-up facility nestled within the precincts of Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.

According to IBioIC the equipment marks a turning point for Scotland’s innovation ecosystem, bridging a critical gap in infrastructure for biotechnology enterprises. Unlike anywhere else in the UK, Scotland has been lacking in accessible ‘open access’ facilities crucial for businesses aiming to upscale their operations.

“This funding will make a big difference in terms of the support we are able to offer businesses looking to scale up their processes,” said Mark Bustard, CEO of IBioIC. “With critical scale-up infrastructure available for companies to use, we can boost growth in the wider bioeconomy, helping a range of sectors get closer to net zero.”

This comes on the backdrop of many bio-based products failing because of the challenge encountered in transitioning from laboratory-bound concepts to industry-ready processes. The so-called ‘valley of death’ is compounded by the high price associated with procuring large-capacity fermenters, often leading to the premature demise of promising products.

“This investment will help more businesses overcome the scale-up challenge of turning lab-based science into industry-ready products, and I look forward to it helping encourage further innovations and advancements in the coming years,” said minister Lochhead.

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Since its inception in 2016, the IBioIC FlexBio bioprocessing scale-up facility has supported over 60 projects, albeit constrained by its existing capacity of 30 litres. However, with the infusion of new funding, the facility is now primed to amplify its impact by a factor of ten.

“The challenge of creating an environment where more innovative companies in Scotland can really achieve scale is a critical focus of Scottish Enterprise. This development will be hugely beneficial for those with that level of ambition within Scotland’s growing industrial biotech sector,” said Jane Martin, managing director of innovation and investment at Scottish Enterprise.