ARTIFICIAL NATURE, S.L.

Their core work

Artificial Nature is a Barcelona-based biotech SME that converts industrial CO2 emissions into valuable chemicals and materials using biological and catalytic processes. Their work spans microbial fermentation — deploying bacteria such as Clostridium and Acetobacter as living chemical factories — through to chemical catalysis methods including electrocatalysis, enzymatic catalysis, and thermocatalysis. The chemicals they produce include platform molecules like 3-hydroxypropionic acid, 3-butanediol, lactic acid, and biopolymer precursors used in bio-based plastics and specialty chemicals. Their applied context is industrial waste-gas streams, particularly from iron and steel production, making them relevant to both the circular economy and decarbonization of heavy industry.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their first project (BIOCONCO2, 2018–2022), the focus was entirely biological: microbial platforms, fermentation chemistry, and specific target molecules like 3-butanediol and 3-hydroxypropionic acid sourced from iron and steel CO2 waste. By the time CATCO2NVERS began (2021–2025), the keyword set had shifted substantially toward chemical and hybrid catalysis — electrocatalysis, thermocatalysis, enzymatic routes — and a broader palette of products including biopolymers and furan-based monomers. The trajectory is a clear expansion from pure microbial bioprocessing toward integrated bio-chemical catalysis, suggesting the organization is maturing from a biology-first specialist into a more versatile CO2-to-chemicals platform company.

Artificial Nature is moving toward hybrid bio-chemical processes that combine biological and chemical catalysis, positioning them to produce a wider range of high-value products — including biopolymers — from diverse industrial CO2 streams.

How they like to work

Artificial Nature participates exclusively as a consortium partner, never as project coordinator, which is consistent with an SME contributing specialized technical capabilities within larger research consortia. Despite only two projects, they have engaged with 38 distinct partners — indicating they join large, multi-partner RIA consortia rather than small bilateral collaborations. This profile suggests they are sought for a defined technical contribution (fermentation capacity, catalysis testing, or process scale-up) rather than for project management or consortium leadership.

Across just two projects, Artificial Nature has worked with 38 unique partners across 15 countries — a notably broad footprint for a two-project SME, reflecting the large consortium structures typical of their RIA funding scheme. No geographic concentration is visible in the available data, suggesting genuinely pan-European consortium reach.

What sets them apart

Artificial Nature occupies a specific and narrow niche: the conversion of real industrial CO2 waste streams (not lab-grade CO2) into chemicals with direct commercial applications, using both biological and catalytic routes. This combination — microbial fermentation expertise alongside catalytic chemistry — is uncommon in a single SME and makes them attractive to consortia that need both biological process knowledge and catalysis competence under one roof. As a Barcelona-based SME in two consecutive EU projects on the same topic, they have built a consistent and verifiable research track record in industrial carbon utilization, which distinguishes them from generic biotech companies with broader but shallower portfolios.

Highlights from their portfolio

• CATCO2NVERS
  Their largest grant (EUR 165,282), running through 2025, and the broadest scope — integrating four distinct catalytic approaches to produce biopolymer precursors alongside platform chemicals from industrial CO2.
• BIOCONCO2
  Their entry into EU research, targeting the highly specific use case of iron and steel plant CO2 emissions converted via microbial cell factories — a niche that aligns directly with industrial decarbonization goals.