AINIA

AINIA Technology Center

• General Characteristics

  • ACTIVITY: technology center.
  • LOCATION: Valencia Technology Park. C/Benjamin Franklin, 5-11. 46980 Paterna (Valencia).
  • DATE OF ESTABLISHMENT: 03/12/1987
  • CATEGORY: private association.
  • CONTACT: Begoña Ruiz.

• R&D Activities/Interests

  • NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 220.
  • REVENUE: 14.8 M€ (2018).
  • COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION: AINIA is a technology center established in 1987 as a non-profit private association. With 30 years of experience, we work to enhance the competitiveness of companies through innovation. We are one of the European technology centers with the largest business social base, with over 700 associated companies and 1,300 clients. AINIA’s mission is to add value and cooperate with companies, leading innovation and sustainable technological development. Our vision is aimed at “being an international benchmark in comprehensive innovation and technology solutions, cooperating with companies to drive their progress.”
  • BUSINESS LINES: AINIA offers R&D services, technological assistance, training, analysis, and industrial services in various areas:
    • Food and health
    • Food quality and safety
    • Industrial design and production
    • Sustainability
    • Market and consumer goods
  • INFRASTRUCTURE: The facilities occupy several buildings with over 13,000 m2 and feature state-of-the-art infrastructure and equipment for R&D and other support services for companies. AINIA has reference laboratories equipped with the most current and sophisticated measuring instruments, as well as numerous techniques, providing rigorous analytical capabilities. https://www.ainia.es/ainia/sobre-ainia/instalaciones-plantas-piloto-laboratorios/

The pilot plants related to the technology offer aimed at plant biotechnology include:

  • Applied microbiology laboratory and biosecurity laboratory. Equipment for conducting various microbiological controls and physicochemical analyses: microbiological counts, 16S and 26S metagenomics, western-blot, PCR, spectrophotometry, chromatography, enzymatic determinations, etc.
  • Pilot biotechnological plant for the development, optimization, and scaling of processes, equipped with fermenters of 1L, 5L, 20L, and 200L, as well as equipment for downstream processing (centrifugation, tangential filtration, separation chromatography).
  • We have authorization to operate with quarantine microorganisms such as Xylella fastidiosa.
  • Microencapsulation pilot plant at laboratory and pilot scale.
  • Biogas pilot plant: laboratory-scale digesters (2L) and pilot scale (30L), as well as a semi-industrial pilot plant of 2m3.
  • Biorrefinery pilot plant: pilot plants designed to simulate various physicochemical and fermentative processes related to the recovery of valuable compounds from organic waste.

TECHNOLOGICAL OFFER/DEMAND: AINIA’s technological offer is tailored to companies, developing solutions for their specific needs. Among our capabilities are the following:

Development of active ingredients to improve productivity and plant health based on microorganisms

  • Biostimulants, bionutrients, biopesticides, phytohormones, defense inducers, bioinsecticides, antagonists, bacteriophages…
  • Ability to isolate microorganisms (wild strains) and genetic engineering of microorganisms to obtain super producers.
  • Capability to develop and optimize the entire acquisition and production process: isolation of microorganisms, characterization, evaluation of their efficacy, development, optimization, and scaling of the production process (up to 200L of fermentation), including the fermentation stage of the microorganism, downstream processes and microencapsulation if necessary.
  • Own collection of microorganisms with properties evaluated in vitro.

Development of biorefinery processes from organic waste (vegetal or otherwise), including the production of fertilizers and nutrient recycling, for example from anaerobic digestion processes of waste.

• Participation in projects

PROJECTS UNDER DEVELOPMENT:

  • 184 (2018).
    • 28% competitive public funding (regional, national, EU)
    • 72% private company funding

We highlight a European project currently underway in the field of plant biotechnology: XF-ACTORS: Xylella fastidiosa active containment through a multidisciplinary-oriented research strategy. https://www.xfactorsproject.eu/

COMPLETED PROJECTS