Production of fuels and chemicals by industrial biotechnology requires efficient, safe and flexible cell factory platforms that can be used for production of a wide range of compounds. Here we developed a platform yeast cell factory for efficient provision of acetyl-CoA that serves as precursor metabolite for a wide range of industrially interesting products. We demonstrate that the platform cell factory can be used to improve the production of α-santalene, a plant sesquiterpene that can be used as a perfume by four-fold. This strain would be a useful tool to produce a wide range of acetyl-CoA-derived products. ► Engineering of the yeast central carbon metabolism to develop a platform cell factory. ► More efficient provision of the precursor metabolite acetyl-CoA. ► The platform cell factory can be used for improving α-santalene production by four-fold.