Juha-Pekka PitkänenCTO, Partner and Founder at Solar Foods
Taking research from the lab to the market has been a feature of Juha-Pekka’s career. During his time as a scientist at systems biology firm Medicel he developed a sampling and parallel cultivation device for bioprocesses which became the company’s first product. As chief technology officer of BioSampler he oversaw the commercialisation of an automated sterile sampling system from industrial fermentations for online monitoring and control of bioprocesses. This system was based on patented technology developed at the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT), where he was principal scientist from June 2011 to March 2018 with responsibility for bioprocess development for production of fuels and chemicals in customer and publicly funded projects, and development of methods and equipment for automation of industrial biotechnology development process, as well as project planning and management. He decided to become a co-founder of Solar Foods because after many years of doing research, it opened up an opportunity to commercialise some of the research results. Solar Foods’ product is Solein, an all-purpose natural protein grown out of a single-cell organism. It is nutritionally rich, can taste and look like anything you use it for, and is unparalleled in its functionality – it can be used in any food, regardless of diet. Solein is now entering commercial production. |
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