NXW Nutrition from Water to Invest in PhycoFerm, Formalising a Joint R&D Strategy for Strain Development
NXW Nutrition from Water has agreed to take an equity stake in PhycoFerm, the Algarve-based microalgae strain development and biotechnology company. The investment will create a structured scientific collaboration between the two organisations and accelerates NXW Nutrition from Water’s biological asset strategy across strain generations I and II.
NXW Nutrition from Water’s approach consists of ongoing iteration cycle across strain, process development, scale manufacturing and formulation, with a commercial-first, partnership-forward ethos: “This partnership reflects the core thesis in our playbook: to build a new category at scale and with a cost advantage, we need the right partners structurally connected across the value chain,” said Federico Duarte, CEO of NXW Nutrition from Water. “We see success coming from a coordinated cohort of allies doing what each one of them does best."
Benjamin Schmid, COO of PhycoFerm says: “We are excited about the partnership because it allows us to stay focused on our core strengths while contributing to the transition of microalgae-based ingredients into scalable, commercially viable platforms for next-generation ingredients.” PhycoFerm contributes advanced capabilities in strain improvement through classical random mutagenesis, adaptive laboratory evolution, and high-throughput screening to identify variants with enhanced productivity, robustness, and targeted metabolic traits. That work is grounded in a clear conviction, as Benjamin Schmid puts it: "We believe microalgae are the most efficient and nutritionally complete production organisms available to us today. They have the potential to reshape how the world makes protein and functional ingredients."
This partnership also deepens NXW Nutrition from Water's roots in Portugal's Algarve region, home to world-class research infrastructure and a growing concentration of biotechnology expertise. "The region has the science, the coastline, and now the companies to become a genuine hub for Europe's blue bioeconomy," says Hugo Barros, Head of Division at CRIA. “The partnership between PhycoFerm and NXW Nutrition from Water is exactly the kind of collaboration that reflects this momentum, bringing next-generation strain development to commercial scale in southern Portugal.” Both parties have benefited from the region’s dynamism and are committed to continue contributing to its development.
About NXW Nutrition from Water
NXW Nutrition from Water is a natural biotechnology company producing affordable, complete, water-derived protein and fibre ingredients at industrial scale. The company partners with global food and nutrition corporations to diversify ingredient supply, reduce costs, and build resilient supply chains. For media enquiries, contact: hi@nutritionfromwater.com