Demonstration and commercialisation of the aorta-innovation
Alginor’s green innovation, AORTA, increases the utilisation ratio of seaweeds from approximately 15 and up to 100% without using formaldehyde and other harmful chemicals. The company’s harvesting method, Hypomar, interferes minimally with the seabed and surrounding marine life during harvesting. Combined, this leads to total utilisation of the raw material, zero waste and emissions, and a 12-product portfolio of established and novel high-quality ingredients, e.g. alginate, fucoidan, native cellulose and polyphenols, for sale to seven global market segments, including pharmaceutical and nutraceutical companies. The main objective of the DACOTA proposal is to demonstrate and commercialise the AORTA technology on an industrial scale, including the extraction and production of Alginor’s 12-product portfolio. This objective will be achieved by completing the two following intermediate objectives; 

1)	Completing designs for the API demonstrator biorefinery and demonstrator harvesting vessel, each with an annual capacity of 10,000 tonnes of wet raw material; and 
2)	the construction of the API demonstrator biorefinery and the construction/acquisition of a demonstrator harvesting vessel 

Objective 1 will be completed during the grant part of the project and has a total CAPEX of €2,5 million, and includes first draft, complete construction drawings, equipment lists, subcontractors, overview of GMP requirements and necessary standards, and product data sheets. 

Objective 2 will be completed during the equity part of the project and includes ordering equipment, installation and commissioning of equipment, demonstrator construction and market deployment. Objective 2 has a total CAPEX of €31.06 million, whereas €15 million is provided by the EIC, €5.57 million is provided by Alginor’s investors through private placements, and the remaining €10.49 million is provided by different loans. 

Total CAPEX is €33.56 million.