The CARBOSURF project demonstrates how industry–academia collaboration and pilot-scale validation can help translate biotechnology research into commercial ingredients for personal care, cleaning products and nutrition. Turning biotechnology research into industrial production requires more than scientific discovery. Successful commercialisation depends on scalable processes, technical validation and sustained collaboration between research organisations and industry.
The EU-funded CARBOSURF project provides an example of this process, with subsequent commercial developments involving specialty chemicals company Evonik and Belgian biotechnology company Inbiose.
Running from 2015 to 2018 and coordinated by Ghent University, CARBOSURF brought together academic and industrial partners to develop fermentation-based biosurfactants and specialty carbohydrates.
The project focused on microbial strain development, fermentation optimisation and downstream purification. Pilot-scale work at Belgium’s Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant helped address technical challenges associated with scaling up biotechnology processes.
Evonik Advances Industrial Biosurfactant Production
One notable commercial development is Evonik’s industrial production of rhamnolipids, biosurfactants manufactured through microbial fermentation.
In 2024, Evonik began production at its new industrial-scale rhamnolipid facility in Slovenská Ľupča, Slovakia.
Rhamnolipids have applications in personal care, household cleaning and industrial formulations. Evonik’s investment represents a significant step in translating fermentation technology into commercial manufacturing.
The facility uses corn-derived sugar as a fermentation feedstock, providing an alternative production route to conventional surfactants.
Inbiose Commercialises Specialty Carbohydrates
CARBOSURF also supported advances in fermentation-derived specialty carbohydrates.
Inbiose, a Ghent University spin-out and CARBOSURF project partner, has progressed to commercial production of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs).
HMOs are complex carbohydrates that can be produced through biotechnology for use in regulated nutrition applications.
According to the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking’s October 2026 assessment, Inbiose commercially produces six HMOs, with applications including infant nutrition and dietary supplements.
These developments illustrate how biotechnology research can contribute to the manufacture of specialised functional ingredients. The regulatory status and permitted uses of individual HMOs depend on the ingredient and market.
The Role of Industry–Academia Collaboration
CARBOSURF combined expertise in microbial engineering, fermentation technology and industrial applications.
Access to pilot-scale facilities helped researchers and companies evaluate production processes beyond laboratory conditions, reducing technical uncertainty before further investment.
The project received approximately €2.73 million in EU funding, against a total project cost of approximately €5.96 million.
The subsequent progress of Evonik and Inbiose also highlights the long-term nature of biotechnology commercialisation, with industrial developments continuing several years after the research project concluded.
What This Means for Bio-Innovation Translation
For companies developing functional ingredients, food biotechnology, cosmetic ingredients and bio-based chemicals, CARBOSURF illustrates the importance of connecting scientific research with industrial requirements.
Three factors stand out: application-driven development, pilot-scale validation and sustained industry–academia collaboration.
Although not every technology developed through CARBOSURF necessarily reached commercial production, the documented progress of Evonik and Inbiose demonstrates how collaborative research can contribute to successful industrial translation.
The case reinforces an important principle for the bio-innovation sector: promising science creates commercial value when supported by the capabilities, partnerships and investment needed to bring it into practical industrial use.
Author: Dr Aleksandra Szopinska
