Our Company
Phytoalgae, Ltd is a Portuguese company that produces microalgae biomass, in the field of blue biotechnology, which bases its production process on innovation, development and creation of differentiated products, premium quality and targeted to consumer demands. The company's production unit is located in Ribeira Brava, in Madeira island. It employs highly qualified and specialized human resources in the areas of Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry and Microbiology, to create product lines with various applicabilities, such as in food supplementation, cosmetics, agriculture and aquaculture. Its production process is based on the use of planar photobioreactors (flat-panels) for large-scale autotrophic production of biomass, followed by a dehydration process under controlled conditions, which, according to the product in question, may be applied various extraction methodologies and subsequent packaging or encapsulation.
Currently, the company is strongly dedicated to the production of premium food supplements with unique characteristics, rich in several bioactive compounds and protein, having as main focus the prevention and improvement of the health of its consumers through a biological and biosustainable nutrition. With this in mind, the company bases its activities on a rigorous and detailed R&D plan, which aims at the constant search for optimal conditions for crop production, the exploration of new species of microalgae with unique characteristics, the evaluation and elaboration of metabolic profiles of the species in production, and the search for new natural biomolecules present in the biomass with unique biological functions.
Our Mission
At Phytoalgae, our vision focuses on the present and future well-being of the world's population, offering all the health and nutritional benefits of microalgae biomass. We work hard to offer innovative, state-of-the-art, environmentally sustainable products based on industrial research and development that allow humans to prevent, mitigate and treat some of the diseases that afflict us. Also, another side of our vision is to develop new food supplements using microalgae as a source that will allow us to combat the food shortages present in the world's population or, on the other hand, to offer new food sources that will satisfy the growing population.
Produce products from microalgae biomass with high nutritional and bioactive value, in order to provide our consumers with natural and biosustainable solutions with unique properties that improve and prevent their health.
Our Mission
At Phytoalgae, our vision focuses on the present and future well-being of the world's population, offering all the health and nutritional benefits of microalgae biomass. We work hard to offer innovative, state-of-the-art, environmentally sustainable products based on industrial research and development that allow humans to prevent, mitigate and treat some of the diseases that afflict us. Also, another side of our vision is to develop new food supplements using microalgae as a source that will allow us to combat the food shortages present in the world's population or, on the other hand, to offer new food sources that will satisfy the growing population.
Produce products from microalgae biomass with high nutritional and bioactive value, in order to provide our consumers with natural and biosustainable solutions with unique properties that improve and prevent their health.
History
The company Phytoalgae, Lda, producer of microalgae biomass, had its origin in 2018 and was motivated by the entrepreneurial and visionary vision that its partners have in exploring new sources of biomass that would allow creating natural, biosustainable, nutritionally rich products with a wide diversity of bioactive compounds. Thus, its founders transferred the technology and know-how acquired when they were scientific researchers in the public sector to the business world, channeling, monetizing and transforming this knowledge into innovative and differentiating products and solutions on the market with great application in the nutraceutical, cosmetic, aquaculture and agricultural industries.
The first two years of activity were based exclusively on the development of R&D activities, with the support of the scientific and industrial research project BIOATIV of the incentive program PROCiência 2020, to carry out experiments and tests at laboratory scale that allowed the optimization and modulation of abiotic conditions of different species of microalgae, the creation of innovative products at pilot scale and the development of its innovative systems for industrial production of microalgae (planar photobioreactors).
Currently, the company is in a phase of expansion of industrial production capacity, which is dedicated exclusively to the production of Chlorella vulgaris premium, as well as, in the installation of new systems for extraction of compounds, automation of the manufacturing process of the products and acquisition of cutting-edge analytical instruments that allowed us to create new products and enter new markets. On the other hand, the company, aware that its national and international success will strongly depend on its business and institutional partnerships, established from an early stage a partnership with the ISOPlexis center - Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Technology of the University of Madeira, as well as with several companies from different areas of action, aiming to provide innovative and differentiating solutions that improve not only their products but also their production process.
Our Team
The team is composed essentially of highly qualified young professionals, which includes graduates, masters and PhDs, with experience both in scientific research for the industrial sector (nutraceuticals, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals) and in the manufacture of products with great applicability in the agri-food sector. The human resources allocated to the company have advanced training in various areas, including biology, biochemistry, microbiology, and chemistry, with a deep knowledge of the various primary and secondary metabolic processes associated with microorganisms, including microalgae and cyanobacteria. In the industrial production process, the team develops its activities based on a strong R&D component and with the constant search for the best production conditions through the modulation of cellular metabolism, which allows obtaining high quality products rich in several classes of biomolecules of great importance for nutrition and health. On the other hand, the experience and knowledge of the team in scientific and industrial research allows Phytoalgae the prospection of new species of microalgae and cyanobacteria as new sources of bioactive compounds, as well as the exploration, identification and applicability of new molecules present in the biomass of these microorganisms.
Our Team
The team is composed essentially of highly qualified young professionals, which includes graduates, masters and PhDs, with experience both in scientific research for the industrial sector (nutraceuticals, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals) and in the manufacture of products with great applicability in the agri-food sector. The human resources allocated to the company have advanced training in various areas, including biology, biochemistry, microbiology, and chemistry, with a deep knowledge of the various primary and secondary metabolic processes associated with microorganisms, including microalgae and cyanobacteria. In the industrial production process, the team develops its activities based on a strong R&D component and with the constant search for the best production conditions through the modulation of cellular metabolism, which allows obtaining high quality products rich in several classes of biomolecules of great importance for nutrition and health. On the other hand, the experience and knowledge of the team in scientific and industrial research allows Phytoalgae the prospection of new species of microalgae and cyanobacteria as new sources of bioactive compounds, as well as the exploration, identification and applicability of new molecules present in the biomass of these microorganisms.
Our Facilities
The company has a gross area of 3000 sqm, of which in about 1000 square meters are implemented greenhouses with control of the surrounding conditions and the planar photobioreactors for the production of microalgae biomass. It also has two built-up areas, a building where the offices are located, a laboratory equipped with state-of-the-art equipment that allows microbiological and analytical analyses, as well as an area for maintenance and laboratory cultivation of microalgae. The second built area is for the biomass collection process, dehydration, extraction, and product manufacturing, allowing the separation of microalgae from water, biomass drying and milling, as well as extraction by supercritical CO2 fluid and automatic product packaging.
Industrial Process
Our industrial production process of microalgae is characterized by being innovative and adapted to the needs of customers and the current market, where the innovative photobioreactors, with high rates of light capture and biomass productivity, stand out as a key element. The objective of the company's industrial production process is to replicate the best that is done in nature , and to provide our consumers with natural, sustainable, nutritionally rich, and highly bioactive products.
Strands of action
- To provide natural, unique and differentiated microalgae-based products with premium quality and operating on a global scale;
- Exploit endogenous resources and create new natural products that impact the health of consumers;
- Providing innovative and unique products for the nutraceutical, cosmetic, aquaculture, and agricultural sectors;
- Creating knowledge based on innovation and scientific and industrial development that improves the industrial production process and beeing the basis for new products;
- Linking the resources of Blue Biotechnology and Circular Economy to develop more environmentally sustainable and industrially efficient products and processes;
- To supply products of 100% Portuguese origin, complying with good practices and national and European regulations;
