MiAlgae
EMEA
Scotland
,
United Kingdom
Scaleup
FOUNDED
2016
HEADCOUNT
21-100
FUNDING
Series A
Keywords:
microalgae, fermentation, bioreactor_design, waste_valorization, lipids, omega3, aquaculture, animal_nutrition
BUSINESS
MiAlgae, founded in 2016 and headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, produces omega-3 rich microalgal biomass (product name NaturAlgae) for pet food and aquaculture feed markets. Its process uses by-products from Scotch whisky distillation (pot ale, spent barley) as feedstock to heterotrophically cultivate DHA-producing microalgae. In December 2025, the company broke ground on a new commercial-scale facility in Grangemouth, Scotland, supported by up to £3 million in joint UK and Scottish government investment, with operations targeted for Q2 2026 and projected tenfold output increase.
BIOTECH INVOLVEMENT
Core industrial biotechnology; microalgae cultivation platform. MiAlgae heterotrophically cultivates DHA-producing microalgae in closed fermentation bioreactors using whisky distillation co-products as growth media, with downstream drying to produce a dry algal biomass product. The commercial product is the whole algal biomass (sold as a powder) rather than an extracted oil. The platform is biomass cultivation of naturally DHA-producing algae rather than engineered strain fermentation
TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM
microalgae cultivation; fermentation
PRIMARY PRODUCTS
Omega-3 rich algal biomass