MonoGutHealth

What MonoGutHealth does

MonoGutHealth is an EU Horizon 2020 Innovative Training Network (MSCA-ITN-2020) research project, not a commercial company. The project is coordinated by ESCI gGmbH (Germany) and focuses on developing microbiome-based interventions and tools to improve gut health in monogastric livestock, specifically pigs and chickens. The €2.9 million, 48-month program (2020–2024) trains 11 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) across a network of 6 beneficiaries and 25 partners in 10 European countries, combining academic institutions with industry players such as TECOdevelopment, Vencomatic, DLG, Vetdiagnostica, Corbiota, Kaesler, Drobex Agro, and Vanden Avenna.

The core technical outputs include a copro-antigen ELISA assay for parasite detection (published in Veterinary Parasitology, November 2022, in partnership with TECOdevelopment), in ovo pre/probiotic supplementation protocols for early-life gut microbiome programming in poultry, and capsule endoscopy methods for non-invasive profiling of the small intestine microbiome in pigs. ESRs complete industry secondments to embed translational exposure, and at least one (ESR1 Roberta Ruggeri) has received training in computer vision and deep learning at CSEM for automated piglet detection. The consortium has also convened stakeholder events at venues such as the Polish Academy of Sciences (November 2024) to disseminate findings.

The business model is non-commercial public-sector research funding: the European Commission provides a fixed €2.9M Horizon 2020 grant consumed over 48 months to fund ESR salaries, secondments, research, and dissemination. There is no product pricing, customer acquisition, or revenue stream in the conventional sense. Sustainability beyond the grant horizon depends on partner institutions absorbing trained researchers, industry partners commercializing outputs independently, or a successor Horizon Europe award, none of which is evidenced in the available data.

Name

MonoGutHealth

Legal name

European Science Communication Institute (ESCI) gGmbH

Website

https://monoguthealth.eu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

MonoGutHealth is an EU Horizon 2020 research network training 11 PhD researchers across 10 European countries to develop microbiome-based diagnostics and interventions that improve gut health in pigs and chickens.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Livestock gut health research

NAICS

Hog and Pig Farming (1122)

SIC

Agricultural Prod-Livestock & Animal Specialties (200)

akta.pro primary industry

Probiotics, Prebiotics & Postbiotics (Direct-Fed Microbials) (AFADALAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Swine Specialty/Functional Feed (Gut Health, Probiotics, Acidifiers, Enzymes) (AFADABAI), Non-Antibiotic Health & Performance Supplements (Immune, Gut Health, Stress/Heat Support) (AFADALAO)

Keywords

• Gut microbiome research
• Monogastric livestock health
• Neonatal gut colonisation
• Animal nutrition science
• Phd training network

Headquarters

HQ city

Oldenburg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. EU Horizon 2020 Research Grant: MonoGutHealth is funded under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 955374. The total budget is €2,900,000 (2.9 million Euro) distributed over 48 months. The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions ITN programme funds the research, training, and network activities, including ESR salaries, travel, and research costs.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

MonoGutHealth is a publicly funded research and doctoral training network that studies microbial colonisation of the gut in monogastric livestock (pigs and chickens) prior to birth and in the early neonatal period. The project develops innovative tools and methodologies, including in ovo pre- and probiotic supplementation, a copro-antigen ELISA diagnostic for nematode infections, and capsule endoscopy for small intestine microbiome profiling. Outputs are disseminated openly to the scientific community and livestock industry through publications, training schools, and stakeholder engagement, rather than sold as commercial products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Multiple PhD theses completed and defended by ESRs, contributing to peer-reviewed publications in journals such as Veterinary Parasitology (copro-antigen ELISA paper, November 2022)
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• AgroscopecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAgroscope is a core beneficiary institution in the MonoGutHealth consortium. ESR1 Roberta Ruggeri is based at Agroscope in Fribourg, Switzerland, researching gut health in pigs and chickens. Agroscope provides facilities, supervision, and secondment opportunities (e.g., for ESR5 Daria De Leonardis).
• Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFBN in Dummerstorf, Germany is a beneficiary institution hosting ESR6 Oyekunle John Oladosu. Dr. Gürbüz Daş leads the copro-antigen ELISA research published in Veterinary Parasitology. FBN also hosts secondments for ESRs (Modou Mangan, Kevin Jerez). Supervisors include Gürbüz Daş and Cornelia Metges.
• Bydgoszcz University of Science and Technology (PBS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPBS is a beneficiary institution and major ESR hub. ESR4 Modou Mangan is enrolled here and ESR3 Ramesha Nirmali Wishna Kadawarage conducted a 3-month secondment. Multiple ESRs attended training schools here. The university also hosted secondments for other ESRs.
• Aarhus University (AU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAarhus University in Denmark is a beneficiary institution where ESR8 Tobias Kettrukat is based, studying gut health in chickens. The university hosts training schools (e.g., on Gut Biology and Health) and secondments for metabolomics training. ESR6 also plans a 3-month secondment at AU for metabolomics studies.
• KU LeuvencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKU Leuven (Belgium) is a beneficiary institution. ESR11 Muhammad Zeeshan Akram conducted part of his PhD here after initial placement at Gembloux-AgroBiotech. Supervisor Nadia Everaert from KU Leuven co-supervises ESR6. Training schools on Gut Biology and Health have been hosted here.
• TeagasccoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTeagasc Food Research Center in Ireland hosts ESR3 Ramesha Nirmali Wishna Kadawarage for a 4-month secondment supervised by Dr. Rita Hickey. Teagasc provides research facilities for microbiology and pathogenic culture work. The ESR gained experience in Bio Safety Level 2 laboratory techniques.
• Vencomatic GroupminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVencomatic Group is an industrial partner of the MonoGutHealth project. ESR11 Muhammad Zeeshan Akram worked with Vencomatic to gain first-hand practical knowledge about various hatching systems as part of his PhD research trials.
• Vanden AvennaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVanden Avenna is an industrial partner of the MonoGutHealth project. ESR11 Muhammad Zeeshan Akram used feed from Vanden Avenna in research trials to study hatching systems and poultry nutrition.
• TECOdevelopment GmbHcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTECOdevelopment GmbH (represented by Dr. Mark Hennies) is an industry partner collaborating with MonoGutHealth researchers. They co-developed the novel copro-antigen ELISA diagnostic tool for nematode infections in chickens. ESR6 also receives planned secondment training (2 months) at TECOdevelopment in veterinary ELISA development.
• VetdiagnosticaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVetdiagnostica is a partner organisation where ESR4 Modou Mangan conducted a 3-month secondment as part of his heat stress research. The secondment provided hands-on experience in veterinary diagnostics and hatchery-to-farm production evaluation.
• Drobex AgrominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDrobex Agro is a partner organisation where ESR4 Modou Mangan conducted a 1-month secondment, gaining experience in hatch management and testing probiotic survival in the gastrointestinal tract.
• CorbiotaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCorbiota is an industry partner where ESR5 Daria De Leonardis conducted a secondment as part of her industry exposure and practical application of academic research.
• KaeslerminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKaesler is an industry partner where ESR5 Daria De Leonardis conducted a secondment, expanding her industry experience and broadening her understanding of practical applications of gut health research.
• DLG GroupminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDLG Group (Fredericia, Denmark) is described as the largest farm supply company in Europe. ESR7 Kevin Jerez conducted a 2-week secondment at DLG to gain industry experience in feed production and farm supply operations.
• CSEM (Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCSEM in Neuchatel, Switzerland hosted ESR1 Roberta Ruggeri for a 4-month secondment in the Edge AI and Vision group. During this placement, she received training in Python programming, deep learning, and image processing—skills applied to automated piglet detection and computer vision analysis for livestock research.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Alltech: Animal nutrition company with strong R&D focus on gut health, prebiotics, and microbiome-based solutions across swine and poultry. Closely aligned with MonoGutHealth's perinatal gut colonisation and resilience research.
• Chr. Hansen (Novonesis): Global leader in microbial and probiotic solutions for animal nutrition and health. Direct overlap with MonoGutHealth's focus on probiotic supplementation, gut microbiome programming, and reduction of antibiotic reliance in livestock production.
• Lallemand Animal Nutrition: Developer and producer of yeast, bacteria, and probiotic-based feed additives for monogastric and ruminant livestock. Comparable to MonoGutHealth's research on direct-fed microbials, gut health modulation, and reduced antimicrobial usage in pigs and poultry.
• Evonik Animal Nutrition: Major supplier of amino acids, probiotics, and gut health solutions for swine and poultry. Directly comparable to MonoGutHealth's work on gut function and microbiome-based performance enhancement in monogastric livestock.
• Kemin Industries: Manufactures specialty feed additives and gut health ingredients for the global livestock industry. Comparable in targeting monogastric species with non-antibiotic health and performance supplements addressing similar challenges (heat stress, gut integrity).
• AB Vista: Animal nutrition technology company focused on feed enzymes and gut health diagnostics for swine and poultry. Comparable in its emphasis on innovative, non-antibiotic feed technologies.
• IFF (formerly Danisco Animal Nutrition): Provides enzymes, probiotics, and gut health solutions for animal feed through its Health & Biosciences division. Overlaps with MonoGutHealth's probiotics, acidifiers, and enzyme work targeting monogastric species.

Broad incumbents

• Cargill Animal Nutrition: One of the largest global animal nutrition companies offering feed additives, premixes, and gut health solutions across multiple livestock species. Comparable as an established incumbent serving the same monogastric livestock customer base.
• Phibro Animal Health: Diversified animal health and nutrition company with feed additive and nutritional specialty products targeting poultry and swine producers. Comparable in addressing gut health, immunity, and performance in monogastric species.

Regional players

• Wageningen University & Research (Animal Sciences Group): Leading European agricultural research institution with extensive livestock gut health and microbiome programmes. Comparable as a publicly funded academic research partner in the monogastric gut health space.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/MonoGutHealth
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/monoguthealth

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about MonoGutHealth