Asteasier project officially ended last 31 December 2024

Asteasier project officially ended last 31 December 2024

20 January 2025

This is not a goodbye… but it is definitely the beginning of a new phase for Asteasier. In fact, last 31 December the project officially ended after two years of activity.

Funded by the European Commission under the EIC Transition programme, Asteasier has successfully achieved its objectives and, in recent months, announced its entry into the market. The reason for this success is simple and must be found within the project team: the University of Verona, Algae for Future, BioMar and DayOne worked closely to validate a promising natural alternative to synthetic astaxanthin and open up to its use in other sectors besides aquaculture. With the ultimate goal of bringing a lasting impact and tangible benefits to society.

It’s been two intense and fulfilling years: a lot has happened but it is worth highlighting some of the main milestones:

On 26 October 2023 , Asteasier won the won the final of the Start Cup Veneto, a business plan competition, i.e. a competition for the best innovative business ideas that has the objective of supporting and stimulating research and innovation especially in the Italian region of Veneto and to spread business culture as a tool for enhancing the knowledge generated by academic research.
On December 2023, the first feed samples were ready to be sent for fish trials; after growing selected microalgae strains, the biomass produced was dispatched to Biomar facilities for testing and incorporation into specialized feed formulations tailored for the aquaculture industry.
At the beginning of 2024, the first demo unit was successfully installed at the Università degli Studi di Verona by Algae for Future. The demo unit provided the consortium with fundamental data in terms of natural astaxanthin productivity and cost-effectiveness of the process that was developed during the Asteasier project.
On 22 October 2024 Asteasier was presented in Verona as part of the Italian FoodSeed acceleration program; FoodSeed believed that Asteasier, and 6 other selected start-ups, are capable of bringing innovation to the agri-food sector, with the aim of strengthening the ecosystem and introducing a new way of thinking about food and technology.
Also during October 2024, the Asteasier start-up was founded. This was a fundamental step in the development of the Asteasier project, which in less than two years went from the research and trial phase to the market entry phase.
On December 2024, BioMar released the results of the fish trials; the experiment demonstrated that fish fed with astaxanthin from the engineered Synechococcus BC microalgal strain obtained a pigmentation equal to fish fed synthetic pigment. This important field validation attested the Synechococcus strain used by Asteasier as a promising natural alternative to synthetic astaxanthin.