Brevel and The Wave Group will build a large fermentation plant in India that uses light to grow microorganisms.
The two companies signed a 50/50 joint venture in New Delhi. Israeli diplomats, trade representatives and Invest India officials attended the ceremony. The Wave Group will fund the facility.
The technology is called illuminated fermentation. It combines controlled fermentation with light in a closed system. Sugar supplies energy and nutrients. Light lets photosynthetic microorganisms such as chlorella make compounds like chlorophyll and carotenoids. Brevel holds four patents on the approach.
Most fermentation happens in the dark. Brevel’s method opens the door to ingredients that depend on light-driven metabolism for growth.
The plant will rise in Uttar Pradesh, in northern India. It will have a capacity of 300,000 liters. Brevel’s current commercial site in Israel runs a 5,000 liter bioreactor. Construction should start later this year, and full-scale production is planned for 18 months after that. Total investment is estimated at USD 10 million to 15 million.
The first product will be Purallis, a clean-label chlorella. The design allows other light-dependent organisms and products later.
Brevel will use side streams from The Wave Group’s sugar mills as feedstock. Locating the plant near the mills should cut transport costs and lower the environmental footprint. Early trials with several mill byproducts gave strong results in Brevel’s bioreactors. The approach is expected to reduce emissions and production costs.
Brevel CEO and co-founder Yonatan Golan said the partnership helps the company serve global markets across microalgae and plant cell culture. He cited work with U.S. firm Ayana Bio as an example. Wave chairman Manpreet Singh Chadha said the deal adds to the group’s food processing portfolio. He said it also makes Wave a hub for global food markets.
