2025-08-28
Cyanobacteria as the Green Resource of the Future
The startup Lifebloom has moved into Medeon Labs to develop bio-based ingredients for personal care products. With the support of Medeon's resources, they are now creating a process that uses fast-growing, photosynthetic bacteria—with the vision of replacing fossil-based raw materials and reducing carbon emissions.
One of the newest companies in Medeon’s laboratories is the Danish greentech company Lifebloom, which develops processes in which cyanobacteria—also known as blue-green algae—are used to convert carbon dioxide and sunlight into environmentally friendly products. The company was founded by CEO Chris Christiansen, who previously launched a skincare company, and Head of Development Jan Karlsen, who has researched cyanobacteria at KTH in Stockholm and worked with industrial algae production in another startup.
- In my PhD research, I studied how cyanobacteria adapt their metabolism under different cultivation conditions. That knowledge makes it possible to optimize the production of valuable molecules for a wide range of applications, says Jan Karlsen.
Being able to rent space in Medeon’s microbiology lab is crucial for the company’s development. At Medeon, Lifebloom has access to equipment such as incubators, centrifuges, and sterile workbenches.
- It’s a huge advantage for us as a startup to have access to Medeon’s lab and equipment. For a young company, it’s very costly to build all that on your own. The concept validation we’re doing now is intended to generate the data needed to prove that the process can be scaled up industrially—something that will be central in the next investment round, Karlsen adds.
Lifebloom is funded in part by €100,000 from the Danish Innovation Fund.
A Partnership with Complementary Strengths
The idea for Lifebloom took shape when Jan Karlsen and Chris Christiansen met and realized they shared a common vision, while their strengths complemented each other. Chris had ambitions to launch a greentech company, while Jan had long been driven by the desire to commercialize the vast and still largely untapped potential of algae-based bioproduction.
- We realized that we work well together and share the same goals. Chris brings financial experience and company-building expertise, and I contribute scientific and technical knowledge in the field. We chose to focus on cyanobacteria because they have many applications and the capacity to replace fossil-based products on a large scale — without using arable land and with minimal freshwater consumption, says Jan Karlsen. Lifebloom is initially focusing on developing cosmetic ingredients to replace those that are currently often fossil-based or derived from controversial raw materials, such as palm oil.
Toward Global Impact
- The advantage of our cyanobacteria is that they can be grown in saltwater and grow much faster than land plants, which enables production in sunny, arid environments without competing with farmland. This allows us to avoid deforestation of rainforests, minimize freshwater use, and at the same time reduce carbon emissions, says Jan Karlsen.
But the entrepreneurs’ plans are much bigger. In the long term, the goal is to use cyanobacteria to produce bioplastics and biofuels as well.
- We want to make the greatest impact possible by developing environmentally friendly processes to replace fossil raw materials and help reduce the world’s carbon emissions, concludes Jan Karlsen.
