LyteGro
Grow
Founded in 2015 by Professor Mark Lyte and Dr Andrew Lee, LyteGro emerged from a groundbreaking scientific discovery. While studying how natural compounds affect gut bacteria, Professor Lyte—one of the world’s pioneers in Microbial Endocrinology, found that banana extracts caused an extraordinary reaction in microbial growth. Recognising the vast industrial potential of this phenomenon, Andrew Lee, an expert in commercialising food, pharma, and cleantech innovations, joined forces with Mark to bring the science from lab to market.
The result was BacLyte, a patented biostimulant made from waste bananas, designed to enhance microbial-driven production processes across industries such as food, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology. By improving fermentation efficiency, BacLyte reduces feedstock, water, and energy use, while providing an additional income stream for banana growers and preventing millions of tonnes of agricultural waste from going to landfill.
Driven by a deep ethical commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, LyteGro partners only with organisations that share its values of environmental and social responsibility. Its mission is to replace polluting, energy-intensive chemical processes with sustainable microbial alternatives, proving that waste can become a powerful resource for profit and planetary health. LyteGro’s vision is a world where waste bananas fuel a cleaner, circular industrial future, uniting biotechnology and sustainability for global impact.