The Horizon Europe project BioValueAI – Digital Innovations for Circular Bioeconomy officially launched during its two-day Kick-off Meeting, held on 10–11 June 2026 in The Hague, the Netherlands. The meeting brought the consortium together to align on the project’s mission, industrial use cases, implementation approach and first steps for the four-year collaboration ahead.

Coordinated by Wageningen Research, BioValueAI brings together 14 organisations working across research, industry, pilot facilities, technology development and social innovation. The project addresses key challenges in the bio-based sector, including fragmented data infrastructures, limited uptake of AI and digital technologies, and the need to consider sustainability, trust and societal acceptance alongside technological innovation.

By combining Artificial Intelligence, digital twins and advanced data analytics, BioValueAI aims to support the development of circular and climate-neutral bio-based value chains while ensuring that innovation remains trustworthy, transparent and aligned with societal needs.

During the Kick-off Meeting, partners moved from introductions to a deeper exchange on the people, use cases and work ahead. The programme included dedicated sessions on the five industrial use cases, speed-dating exchanges between use cases and work packages, breakout sessions on the first project steps, interactive discussions and partner-to-partner exchanges, helping to establish a shared understanding across the consortium from the outset.

BioValueAI’s work is centred on five interconnected industrial use cases:

• Cacao Valorisation, supporting the use of cacao pulp and husk in high-value non-food applications.
• Bio-based Coatings, applying AI and digital twins to support the development of paints, varnishes and chemical construction products using bio-based raw materials.
• Precision Fermentation, using AI-driven monitoring and process optimisation for bio-based production systems.
• Hemp Chain Intelligence, improving resource efficiency, fibre processing and quality assessment across the hemp value chain.
• Biorefinery Feedstock Optimisation, using AI-driven analytics to identify and valorise organic feedstocks for bio-based production.

Across these use cases, BioValueAI will develop and validate AI-enabled solutions, digital twin approaches, reusable AI components, integrated sustainability tools and practical guidance for AI adoption in the bio-based sector. The project will also develop a Business Model Playbook to support uptake, replication and long-term value creation beyond the project’s lifetime.

BioValueAI follows a lean multi-actor approach that brings together industry, researchers, policymakers, citizens and civil society. Each use case will move through iterative stages of co-design, implementation, testing and evaluation, allowing solutions to be refined through real-world feedback and demonstration.

Responsible AI is embedded throughout the project. Ethical, legal and social aspects will be considered from the outset, alongside issues such as transparency, fairness, data protection, trust and societal acceptance. Citizen-focused research activities will also support a better understanding of public perceptions of AI-enabled bio-based innovations.

The consortium includes Wageningen Research, EV ILVO, ATB-Bremen, reframe.food, Hyler BV, einzA Farben GmbH & Co KG, VCG.AI GmbH, L. Pernía SA, Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant VZW, HOGENT, Royal Danish Academy, Universität Innsbruck, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague and CluBE – Cluster of Bioeconomy and Environment of Western Macedonia.

Together, the partners will work to connect bio-based data into more reusable and interoperable digital ecosystems, validate AI-enabled solutions in industrial settings, and support the development of more circular, climate-neutral and sustainable bio-based value chains.