Visibuilt: Sustainable asphalt on the roads soon

Asphalt is produced with byproducts from the oil refinery sector, which is expensive and high-energy consuming. Visibuilt, a danish startup, has developed a product that may replace the oil with fungi and sawdust. Through a knowledge bridge project, Visibuilt have created the fundation for their product and also clarified the potential for low-carbon fermentation-based road surfacing together with the Danish Technological Institute and Munck Asfalt. The results have made it possible for a EUDP-project and further development.

Visibuilt is a biotech startup developing natural binders for the asphalt industry. Building roads and facilities is an energy-intensive task. Today, asphalt is produced with bitumen (a by-product of oil refining) that needs to be heated up to several hundred degrees. At the same time, 60% of the roads that will be used in 2050 are not yet built, so the need for an alternative to bitumen is high.

Line Kloster Pedersen, founder of Visibuilt, has created a material that will be the alternative. The product is called visiBIT and is a binder created from the root network of fungi, called mycelium, which at low temperatures can convert sawdust into a strong material.

In a way, the mycelium is the root system for fungi. It holds the soil, so I thought it could probably also bind the asphalt together rather than using oil – Line Kloster Pedersen, founder, Visibuilt

Collaboration created quick results

Together with the Danish Technological Institute and partners from the entire asphalt value chain, Visibuilt’s product was tested and a foundation for collaboration was build. By bringing together the entire value chain from supplier to manufacturer and future customers, Visibuilt were able to share knowledge in a network that led them to submit a patent application and join an EUDP application. The EUDP application was approved and forms the basis for even greater collaboration among the partners. Here, the results for the knowledge bridge were absolutely essential.

Without the collaboration, and the early data and tests for visiBIT through the knowledge bridge project, it was not possible to get ready for an EUDP application – Line Kloster, Visibuilt

The collaboration is going so well that Visibuilt’s team has moved into the Danish Technological Institute’s premises in Taastrup to be closer to the laboratories and the knowledge environment, so they can focus solely on growing the business.

Product can revolutionize the industry

The collaboration has provided Line and Visibuilt with important knowledge about visiBIT’s properties and green benefits. The Danish Technological Institute has contributed with knowledge about the technical requirements of road construction and which fungi could be used. Line and her team have tested and further developed their product to constantly improve it.

It was great that we could plug our prototypes into TI’s labs and have them tested. It worked really well! – Line Kloster, Visibuilt

I’m not underestimating when I say that it has been crucial to how quickly we have been able to grow and create excitement for our product! – Line Kloster, Visibuilt

Visibuilt’s product has generated a lot of interest from the industry, press and investors, as their product can help revolutionize the asphalt industry and replace bitumen – without the industry having to build new plants or factories. Following the knowledge bridge project, Visibuilt has raised more than DKK 15 million in capital to build more pilot road plants.

The next step is the EUDP project, where the focus is on outdoor testing so we can quickly move towards a commercial product – Line Kloster, Visibuilt