Natural Products BioHUB
UKRI Green Economy Centre
Accelerating green growth in Wales and beyond
Mission
The Natural Products BioHUB at Swansea University is one of the UK’s four UKRI-funded Green Economy Centres and helps businesses turn bio-based ideas into market-ready solutions. Offering access to facilities, funding opportunities, and expert partners across algae and fungi, sustainable agriculture, industrial biotech, and environmental applications, we bridge the gap between science and industry to harness nature’s most powerful problem-solvers — fungi, bacteria, plants, and algae — for a more sustainable future.
Why Natural Products?
Using compounds and processes derived from living organisms can reduce our reliance on synthetic and harmful chemicals and create a more sustainable and low carbon economy.
Current Initiatives & Projects
Carbon Capture
Our scientists are using microalgal technology to capture CO2 emissions and convert them into omega-3 rich animal feed ingredients and a range of other waste-to-wealth innovations.
Goal: To scale up this carbon-to-nutrition technology for industrial deployment, scale up and commercial impact.
Bioenergy
Our teams are currently working with industrial partners to increase efficiency in biomass production, provide scale-up opportunites and attract new investment to this high-value sector.
Goal: To build a collaborative ecosystem for sustainable biomass and biochar production, attracting new investment.
Food Security
Our researchers are developing novel integrated pest management and biocontrol strategies to accelerate the development of new bioinsecticides, using fungi, natural predators, and natural products.
Goal: To promote biodiversity and safeguard both animal and human health through sustainable pest management.
Potential Impact
%
Annual growth in eukaryotic microbe natural-product markets.
Almost 2.5 million fungal species found worldwide, yet only 155k described to date.
Financial support already committed (cash + in-kind), by civil and industrial partners.
More than 100,000 algal species in existence but only half currently explored.
Join our Ecosystem
Collaborate with leading innovators across industry, government and research, gaining access to tailored R&D support, specialist facilities and real-world testbeds that accelerate your green technology from idea to market — explore our project partners to see who’s already shaping the future with us.