Two Danish startups tackling environmental and health-related challenges have been selected as recipients of IP Matters 2026. Through the initiative, LignoSolve ApS and PhageChi ApS will each receive intellectual property advisory services worth DKK 50,000 to help strengthen and protect their innovations.
While operating in very different fields, both companies share a common ambition: translating research into solutions with the potential to create meaningful societal impact.
LignoSolve and PhageChi operate in two very different areas, but both companies have successfully transformed research into solutions that can make an impact beyond the laboratory. We look forward to supporting them through IP Matters and following their continued development.
Finn Strøm Madsen, CEO of Plougmann Vingtoft
This year’s recipients are tackling very different challenges. While LignoSolve is developing a bio-based alternative to conventional wood preservation, PhageChi is pioneering a microbiome-friendly approach to oral health. What they have in common is an ambition to create solutions with a positive environmental and societal impact.
Meet the recipients of IP Matters 2026
LignoSolve
Tor Simonsen and Andrea Ponzecchi, co-founders of LignoSolve
LignoSolve is developing a new approach to wood modification based on lignin, a natural polymer found in wood and widely available as an industrial side stream. In trees, lignin provides strength and forms part of the natural defence against fungal degradation.
LignoSolve has developed a technology that formulates lignin in liquid form and integrates it into wood, improving durability, moisture resistance and dimensional stability.
The aim is to provide a bio-based alternative to conventional wood preservation, reduce reliance on tropical hardwoods and hazardous chemicals, and enable greater use of locally available wood species.
PhageChi
Richardt Vognstoft and Sebastian Nielsen, co-founders of PhageChi
PhageChi is developing a new approach to oral health based on bacteriophages, naturally occurring viruses that selectively target specific bacteria.
Unlike many conventional antimicrobial treatments, bacteriophages can be used to target unwanted bacteria while preserving beneficial microorganisms that contribute to a healthy oral microbiome.
Through this approach, PhageChi aims to provide a microbiome-friendly composition for improving oral health and quality of life, while contributing to Sustainable Development Goal #3: Good Health and Well-Being.
The next step
As part of IP Matters 2026, both companies will gain access to a dedicated team of intellectual property specialists with expertise relevant to their respective fields.
Lasse Ringhofer will lead the advisory team supporting LignoSolve, while Vivian Nhu Vu Bui will lead the team working with PhageChi.
About IP Matters
IP Matters is Plougmann Vingtoft’s annual initiative through which we donate intellectual property advisory services worth DKK 50,000 to selected Danish startups.
The initiative helps innovative companies strengthen the intellectual property foundations needed to realise the full potential of their innovations. Recipients are selected based on their potential to contribute to one or more of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Learn more about IP Matters.
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