The microalgae produced by Yemoja can be tailored to include desired nutritional compounds and functionalities

Start-up Yemoja’s high-precision cultivation delivers customized microalgae

Image: Yemoja producing high-precision microalgae. (Credit: Yemoja, Ltd.)

Yemoja, an Israel-based start-up, has announced the development of a new platform to cultivate customised, pharmaceutical grade microalgae on demand.

The Israeli firm uses high-precision fast-track photobioreactor technology and claims to have set a new standard in the production of microalgae.

According to the start-up firm, its microalgae can be tailored to consist of desired nutritional compounds and functionalities.

The firm said that it can produce algae-centred ingredients standardised to any bioactive compound or algae extract encompassing fucoxanthins, polysaccharides, xanthophylls, carotenoids, enzymes and more.

Yemoja CEO Eyal Shalmon said: “There is a vast ocean of microalgae species not yet discovered, and only a dozen or so are commercially available. The market is still in the early stages of tapping into the immense potential of these marine ‘supercrops’.

“Our mission is to boost the entire microalgae value chain with new varieties and yields, and bring them to the mainstream of high-end nutraceutical food and cosmeceutical spheres with additional formulations in the pipeline.”

Yemoja believes that its cultivation methodology is touted to overcome several of the industry’s hurdles such as compositional homogeneity, scalability and containment proofing while ensuring clean and safe microalgae are produced throughout the process.

The firm operates an indoor, high-precision, contaminant-free closed cultivation system where absolute control is maintained.

The control of several parameters such as temperature, pH, light and CO2 emissions is considered to be crucial, allowing for simultaneous growth of multiple species in a very tightly controlled environment.

This ensures a consistent supply of standardised speciality ingredients and offers new capabilities to meet the specific needs of suppliers.

Yemoja is in the processing of securing Series B funding

Yemoja chief operating officer and co-founder Erez Ashkenazi said: “Yemoja’s patented technology evolved from a deep-rooted appreciation of biopharma and marine sciences, supported by extensive experience in algae cultivation.

“This unprecedented capacity was collectively harnessed to produce a variety of pure algae at any scale, and in a short time — something the microalgae market has not witnessed until now.”

Yemoja has secured $4m in seed funding and investment from the Israel Innovation Authority and is moving toward Series B funding.