Ayana Bio and Brevel secure US$1.25 million BIRD grant to scale plant cell bioactives through illuminated fermentation

Boston-based Ayana Bio and Israeli climate biotech company Brevel have secured US$1.25 million in funding from the Israel-US Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation to advance the commercial production of plant-based bioactive ingredients using illuminated fermentation and plant cell cultivation technologies.

• Ayana Bio and Brevel received US$1.25 million in BIRD Foundation funding to develop plant cell cultivation using illuminated fermentation technology.
• The project formed part of a seven-project cohort supported through a US$7.5 million BIRD funding pool designed to accelerate commercialization.
• The companies aimed to create a scalable indoor production system for plant-derived bioactive ingredients independent of traditional agricultural supply chains.

The strategic partnership brought together Ayana Bio’s plant cell cultivation and synthetic biology capabilities with Brevel’s illuminated fermentation platform, which the company reported had already been scaled from laboratory development to 5,000-liter commercial production.

The project was selected as part of a newly approved group of seven binational initiatives backed by a US$7.5 million BIRD Foundation funding program. According to the organizations, the grants leveraged private-sector participation to support a combined US$20 million in project investment.

The companies reported that the collaboration would focus on addressing challenges associated with conventional botanical ingredient sourcing, including climate-related disruptions, agricultural variability, and contamination risks that can affect ingredient quality and availability.

By combining their respective technologies, Ayana Bio and Brevel planned to establish an indoor manufacturing platform capable of producing high-value bioactive compounds in a controlled environment with greater consistency and scalability than traditional agricultural systems.

Frank Jaksch, CEO of Ayana Bio, said the project aligned closely with the company’s goal of reducing dependence on conventional crop production for bioactive ingredients.

“Our mission at Ayana Bio is to democratize nature’s bioactives by decoupling ingredient production from traditional agricultural constraints,” he said. “By integrating Brevel’s unique illuminated fermentation platform, we can further scale our plant cell lines in a controlled, highly efficient environment. This BIRD Foundation grant validates the power of our combined technologies to create standardized, contaminant-free plant ingredients that meet the surging global demand for clinical-grade nutrition and wellness.”

Brevel said its illuminated fermentation infrastructure had originally been developed to unlock the commercial potential of photosynthetic organisms. The technology was first applied to microalgae production and subsequently commercialized within the nutraceutical sector.

Yonatan Golan, CEO & Co-founder of Brevel, said the partnership represented an opportunity to apply the company’s engineering platform to a new area of ingredient manufacturing.

“We are excited to collaborate with Ayana Bio to expand the boundaries of what plant cell cultivation and bioactive ingredient production can achieve,” he said. “Brevel’s illuminated fermentation infrastructure was built to unlock the full potential of photosynthetic organisms at a commercially viable scale. Applying this hardware and process engineering to plant cell cultivation allows us to accelerate the transition to a more resilient, sustainable food system. We thank the BIRD Foundation for recognizing the transformative potential of this binational cooperation.”

The BIRD Foundation was established to encourage collaboration between US and Israeli companies developing innovative technologies. Its funding model supports up to 50% of eligible project costs without taking equity or intellectual property rights from participating companies. Repayment is made through royalties only if supported projects reach commercialization.

Jaron Lotan, Executive Director of the BIRD Foundation, said the collaboration reflected the type of cross-border innovation the organization was created to support.

“This project exemplifies the type of innovation and collaboration that the BIRD Foundation was established to support,” he said. “By combining Ayana Bio’s expertise in plant cell cultivation with Brevel’s breakthrough illuminated fermentation technology, the companies are addressing important global challenges in sustainable ingredient production. We are proud to support this U.S.-Israel collaboration through the BIRD program.”

Ayana Bio develops plant-derived ingredients through plant cell cultivation, producing plant materials without conventional field agriculture. The company works across food, beverage, dietary supplement, sports nutrition, animal care, and skin care applications and is backed by investors including Viking Global and Cascade.

Brevel described itself as the first company to scale illuminated fermentation from laboratory research to 5,000-liter commercial production. The company reported that it had secured US$30 million in funding and was expanding the application of its technology across food, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical markets.

The companies said the partnership would support the development of more reliable production systems for bioactive ingredients serving consumer packaged goods, dietary supplement, functional food, and wellness markets, while strengthening technological collaboration between the USA and Israel.