How Aberdeen bacteria collection is tackling world's biggest problems

Press and Journal

29-04-2025

A pioneering lab in Aberdeen that stores some of the world's most useful bacteria has received a £1.7 million investment to scale its operations and tackle some of today's most urgent scientific challenges.
Dyce-based biotech lab NCIMB is home to the UK's largest bacterial culture collection, the National Collection of Industrial, Food and Marine Bacteria.
These microscopic powerhouses drive innovation across industries — from pharmaceuticals and sustainable technologies to food safety and even the science behind keeping your home smelling fresh, thanks to products like Febreze.
NCIMB plays a key role in preserving and supplying them from its £4m purpose-built base in Wellheads Industrial Estate.
The funding, from Maven Capital Partners and the Scottish National Investment Bank, will support NCIMB's ambitious growth plans.
Opened in 2023, the state-of-the-art premises feature advanced microbiology labs, cold storage, and molecular suites.
Dr Edward Green, NCIMB's chief executive, said the investment would allow the business to meet growing demand and create new local jobs.
'The funding is transformational for the business, allowing us to scale in the north-east of Scotland and better support our customers' needs in life sciences,' he said.
'It allows us to deliver our long-term vision to deploy our unique microbial platform to deliver impactful biotechnology solutions addressing grand societal challenges including decarbonisation, climate change, food security and healthy living.'
The company plans to grow its team from 23 to 30 employees by the end of this year.
Founded in 1982 with the University of Aberdeen's original bacteria collection — which dates back more than 75 years — NCIMB now holds over 10,000 strains.
Many of these microbes are already used to produce everyday essentials, such as antibiotics, food ingredients, and industrial enzymes.
'It has been collected over many decades and serves as a national reference collection for anyone who wants to get hold of a microbial strain, primarily for some beneficial purpose,' added Dr Green.
'We have only scratched the surface in terms of the ways microbes can be used to benefit mankind and tackle many of the big issues faced by society, including climate change, food security and healthy ageing.
'It is incredibly lucky that somebody had the foresight to establish this collection of industrial, food and marine bacteria.'
The Maven team was first introduced to NCIMB at an IFS Roadshow in Aberdeen, hosted by the British Business Bank.
This latest investment is intended to help NCIMB generate more revenue from its collection and grow the business, with future spin-out companies expected.
Dr Green added: 'We want to make our collection more accessible, more useful and get it out to more people than we currently do – in a format that I think de-risks for the end-user.'
The investment will allow NCIMB to grow its microbiology services, expand its specialist licensing business, and develop new offerings that help customers choose and use the right bacterial strains for their needs.
David Milroy, partner at Maven said NCIMB is uniquely positioned to meet growing demand for contract research organisation's with deep domain expertise.
He added: 'We are delighted to join the team at this point in the company's journey and look forward to helping them further scale the business.'
Alastair McMillen of the Scottish National Investment Bank said: 'As an impact investor, we are attracted to NCIMB's commercial potential as well as the innovation it can unlock to address global challenges such as climate change and food insecurity.'