HIPERBARIC SA

Their core work

Hiperbaric is a Spanish manufacturer of High Pressure Processing (HPP) industrial equipment — machines that use extreme water pressure (up to 6,000 bar) instead of heat to pasteurize food and beverages, preserving nutrients and extending shelf life without additives. Their H2020 work focused specifically on scaling HPP technology for large-volume beverage production lines, addressing a segment where conventional HPP equipment was not cost-effective at industrial scale. As an equipment manufacturer and technology provider, they combine mechanical engineering with food safety science to deliver turnkey preservation systems to the food and beverage industry. Hiperbaric sells to processors globally, positioning themselves not as a research lab but as the commercial bridge between HPP science and industrial application.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Hiperbaric's H2020 participation spans a single tightly scoped project executed in two formal phases (2014–2018): the BEVSTREAM SME Phase 1 feasibility study followed by the full SME Phase 2 innovation project. There is no visible thematic shift between early and late participation — both phases address the same challenge of HPP equipment for large beverage producers. This is not a limitation but a deliberate strategy: the SME Instrument pathway was used exactly as designed, to de-risk and then fully fund a single high-conviction commercial innovation rather than to explore multiple research directions.

Hiperbaric used EU funding as a commercialization accelerator for a specific product line — their trajectory signals a company that validates technology commercially before seeking further public funding, making them a reliable industrial partner rather than a research-dependent one.

How they like to work

Hiperbaric operated as sole coordinator on both H2020 projects, consistent with the SME Instrument model which is designed for single-company innovation projects rather than multi-partner consortia. Their zero recorded consortium partners reflects the structure of the funding scheme, not an inability to collaborate — companies using SME-1 and SME-2 typically bring in subcontractors and advisors informally rather than as formal consortium members. Anyone considering Hiperbaric as a partner should expect them to play a technology provider or industrial demonstrator role rather than a consortium coordinator role in multi-partner settings.

Hiperbaric's formal H2020 network is minimal — zero registered consortium partners — because both projects were solo SME Instrument applications. Their real industrial network, built through equipment sales and commercial partnerships across the food and beverage sector, is not captured in this EU project data.

What sets them apart

Hiperbaric occupies a rare position as an equipment manufacturer rather than a research institute or food processor — they make the machines that other food companies use, which means they sit at the intersection of mechanical engineering, food science, and industrial scale-up. In an EU research landscape dominated by universities and research centres, an industrial HPP equipment maker willing to engage in publicly funded innovation is an unusually practical partner for any consortium needing real-world technology validation. Their willingness to self-fund early-stage risk via SME Phase 1 before committing to Phase 2 also signals commercial discipline that academic partners often lack.

Highlights from their portfolio

• BEVSTREAM
  The Phase 2 award of EUR 2,372,778 is a substantial SME Instrument grant, placing this among the better-funded solo SME innovation projects in the Food pillar — and the Phase 1 to Phase 2 progression confirms the business case survived independent expert evaluation.
• BEVSTREAM
  The Phase 1 feasibility study (EUR 50,000, 2014–2015) represents Hiperbaric's entry into EU-funded innovation, demonstrating the company's ability to frame a hardware manufacturing challenge as a fundable European innovation project.