Winner of the Fibenol Hackathon

Katrin Kepp, one of the main organizers and jury members, and head of the Bioeconomy Development Centre, emphasized the university’s ambition to be a national hub for innovative circular bioeconomic solutions. “This ambition led us to collaborate with Fibenol, who sought new ways to valorize chemical compounds derived from wood into food. It’s these seemingly crazy ideas, like producing wooden food, that can lead to groundbreaking sustainable technologies through collaboration between companies and scientists,” Kepp stated.

Karl Peebo, Product Manager at Fibenol, stated, “The hackathon was designed to address a specific company challenge, making it highly focused and targeted. It was a pleasant experience in that regard. I believe it has a global impact by bringing together diverse teams and ideas. We had participants from various backgrounds proposing unique solutions to our problem, which fostered connections and sparked even more innovative ideas.”

The hackathon featured solution provider teams from Sweden, Estonia, Belgium, and Switzerland. The winning team, Novel Yeast from Belgium, proposed a solution to valorize C5 sugars derived from Fibenol’s residual wood into xylitol using genetically modified and patented yeast strains. Xylitol is widely used in toothpastes, chewing gums, pharmaceuticals, and the food industry. The hackathon featured 13 international mentors supporting and providing valuable guidance to all teams.

While Fibenol representatives acknowledged the efforts of all participating teams, the overall winner, Novel Yeast, will have the opportunity to join Fibenol in applying for the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking research-development project.

FibenolHackathon was funded by Interreg Baltic Sea Region and is part of the BioBoosters project.

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