Concerto Biosciences has signed a development and commercialisation agreement with Sacco System to advance next-generation microbial ingredient discovery. The companies aim to develop novel ingredients composed of synergistically interacting microbes with desirable functional properties.

"Our microbial collection represents decades of investment in food microbiology and captures the extensive biodiversity found across diverse food ecosystems worldwide. Each microorganism has been thoroughly characterised at phenotypic and genotypic levels; however, a substantial portion of their functional potential arises from microbial interactions within structured and dynamic communities," said Fabio Dal Bello, Scientific Director, Sacco.

Sacco System contributes its heritage library of food-grade cultures and expertise in applied food microbiology. Concerto will apply its intelligence platform to Sacco's library, using its kChip technology to empirically construct and measure millions of cocultures and its AI model kAI to learn from those results.

"Concerto enables us to systematically study these interactions, unlocking innovative solutions for the food industry. Our goal is to identify optimal strain synergies – where 1 + 1 truly equals 3. We strongly believe that kChip technology is the perfect match for our needs, and we are eager to discover which combinations of our microorganisms are best suited to advancing sustainable food production, delivering value to both manufacturers and consumers," added Federica Volontè, R&D Biology Manager, Sacco.

Concerto's platform offers a scalable, and repeatable model for product innovation, with capabilities spanning food science and nutrition, skin health, women's health and beyond.

"This collaboration will set a new standard for microbe-based product innovation. Our platform is designed to generate massive datasets that provide empirical insight into how microbes function together. Partners like Sacco contribute deep domain expertise and commercial muscle. That combination is how Concerto is advancing microbial ingredient discovery and scaling our platform across industries," said Cheri Ackerman, CEO and Cofounder, Concerto.