Fungi-fueled foodtech startup MycoTechnology has launched a Fermentation as a Service (FaaS) platform to help startups secure fermentation capacity in a tight market and generate additional revenue by sweating its assets.
“Scaling up can be fraught with difficulties, and fierce competition for fermentation capacity is resulting in bottlenecks, delays and escalating costs,” said MycoTech CTO Ranjan Patnaik. “By opening up our facility to others, we aim to foster breakthroughs and accelerate the pace of innovation.”
CEO Alan Hahn told AgFunderNews: “We’ve made giant leaps in producing our own products more efficiently and maximizing our capacity. Driving revenue from our fixed assets will allow us to continue to fund advanced research efforts for our unique technology platform, keeping our P&L healthy and strong as we move forward.
“As we’ve made major advancements in efficiency over the last couple of years to support our business growth, we’ve also increased capacity at a higher rate than anticipated. We have expanded our R&D work as well, allowing us to stretch our assets and learn more about their true capabilities.”
He added: “We have been contacted by dozens of potential customers and are in advanced discussions with several to begin producing trial batches.”
300-liter, 3,000-liter, and 90,000-liter fermentation vessels
The FaaS platform will include 300-liter, 3,000-liter, and 90,000-liter fermentation vessels that are “best suited for fermentation that requires low OTR [oxygen transfer rate],” said Hahn.
“We will also be adding capacity to accommodate high OTR. This equipment can be used to create a wide variety of different bioproducts, and we continue to uncover new possibilities and opportunities. Over the past decade, we have learned a great deal about the flexibility of our assets and their ability to successfully produce diverse ingredients, for ourselves (if the opportunity fits our strategy) or in partnership with other companies.”
Supported by $220 million from backers including sovereign wealth fund the Oman Investment Authority and Nourish Ventures, Colorado-based MycoTechnology has commercialized two platforms utilizing mycelium, the filament-like roots of mushrooms: ClearIQ bitter blockers and flavor modulators and FermentIQ fermented plant proteins.
A third platform—a 100% fungi-based whole food ingredient for meat alternatives—will be produced at a new plant in Oman expected to open in late 2025.
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