About

BIOPROCESS is a Greek R&D company founded in January 2024 in Thessaloniki, developing prototype bio-reactors for bio-methane and bio-hydrogen production. Our technology combines biological, electrochemical, and photocatalytic processes in a single, additively-manufactured modular unit, using solar or LED light to convert CO₂ and biogas streams into cleaner fuels without relying on grid electricity or energy-intensive gas separation. Founded and led by Dr. Themistoklis Sfetsas, BIOPROCESS operates at the intersection of analytical chemistry, bioenergy, and additive manufacturing, supported by a lean team of PhD-level scientists, veterinarians, and technologists, backed by faculty from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the International Hellenic University. Our technical credibility is backed by two Horizon Europe-family proposals in two years: SOLENHAB (EIC Pathfinder Challenges, 2024), which scored 14/15 in evaluation, and SUN-O-MET (2026), where BIOPROCESS was proposed as coordinator of a 10-partner consortium. We already generate service revenue from an operating biogas plant client and act as Innovation Facilitator, giving us real execution experience alongside our R&D roadmap.

Solution & Product

BIOPROCESS's solution is a modular bio-reactor platform that combines biological, electrochemical and photocatalytic processes in a single, additively-manufactured unit — engineered to produce either bio-methane or bio-hydrogen from CO₂ and biogas streams, depending on configuration. The reactor has three integrated components: a photoanode that harvests solar or LED light to split water into oxygen, protons and electrons; a capillary electrolysis cell that converts these in-situ into hydrogen, removing the need for external H₂ supply, storage or transport; and a biocathode hosting specialised methanogenic microorganisms that combine that hydrogen with CO₂ to produce methane, or that can be configured to release the hydrogen directly as biohydrogen. BIOPROCESS is currently validating this technology at prototype, lab-scale stage (TRL4), with a roadmap toward pilot-scale field deployment at an operating biogas plant.

Innovation & Scalability

BIOPROCESS's core innovation lies in unifying three distinct energy-conversion mechanisms — solar photocatalysis, in-situ electrolysis, and biological CO₂ fixation — inside one 3D-printed reactor unit, closing the loop between renewable light capture and fuel synthesis without needing an external hydrogen supply chain, which is the single biggest cost and infrastructure barrier facing every competing power-to-gas or electrolysis-based approach. Because the same platform can be tuned to output either bio-methane or bio-hydrogen, BIOPROCESS addresses two adjacent, fast-growing markets from one R&D investment rather than building separate technologies for each. Scalability is built into the hardware itself: because each reactor unit is standardised and additively manufactured, capacity grows by packing more identical units rather than redesigning a plant, allowing BIOPROCESS to license the design, manufacture it directly, or deploy it site-by-site — a path to growth that doesn't require re-engineering the core product for every new customer or site.

Traction & achievements

Since founding in January 2024, BIOPROCESS has built a concrete track record across both its R&D pipeline and its commercial operations. On the technology side: we submitted SOLENHAB to the EIC Pathfinder Challenges call in October 2024 as a consortium partner, scoring 14/15 in the EU's competitive evaluation; and in March 2026 we submitted SUN-O-MET to Horizon Europe as proposed coordinator of a 10-partner, €3.92 million consortium. We have assembled a lean team of 8+ PhD-level scientists and specialists, backed by faculty from NCSR Demokritus and the International Hellenic University, and our founder and researchers have co-authored peer-reviewed publications spanning anaerobic digestion, biogas additives, and bio-carrier fabrication — evidence of both scientific depth and delivery capability ahead of first commercial reactor deployment.

Team & Why Us

BIOPROCESS is led by Dr. Themistoklis Sfetsas (Founder & General Manager), a chemist and analytical scientist with a PhD in Agriculture (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki) on anaerobic digestion effluent treatment via microalgae, an MSc in Chemistry Education (NKUA), and prior research experience at CERTH/CPERI developing GC×GC-ToFMS analytical methods for bio-oil and fuel characterisation. He is supported by a team of senior experts, who co-developed the hybrid 3D bio/electro/photocatalytic reactor prototyping work behind SOLENHAB, plus a wider pool of 8+ PhD-level scientists and engineers spanning chemistry, molecular biology, and life science, backed by a research advisory network at NCSR Demokritus and the International Hellenic University. Why BIOPROCESS: our reactor architecture solves a problem — the external hydrogen supply chain — that every competing electrolysis-based approach still carries, and this depth has been independently tested through EU-level competitive review rather than self-declared. We can execute, not just prototype.

Funding Needs

BIOPROCESS is seeking €1,000,000 to take its M-PEC reactor technology from current lab-scale validation (TRL3–4) to a field-ready pilot (TRL6–7) at an operating biogas plant. The funding will primarily cover: engineering and construction of a pilot-scale reactor unit (scaling up the photoanode, capillary electrolysis cell and biocathode from lab prototype to field-durable hardware); integration and testing at a partner biogas site, including the instrumentation needed to validate methane/hydrogen output, conversion efficiency and durability under real operating conditions; expansion of the core technical team with reactor and process engineers to support scale-up; and the certification and compliance work required before biomethane or biohydrogen output can be injected into the grid or sold as fuel. This funding complements, rather than replaces, our EU grant strategy — it de-risks the technology and builds a validated pilot reference independent of the previous project's submissions funding decision, strengthening our position for that award and for follow-on private or public financing once TRL6–7 is reached.