“My view of the market is that we had a bit of a hype cycle, but the underlying trends [driving alt protein] are there,” says ENOUGH CEO Jim Laird.
Billed as “the most nutrient-dense protein source on the planet,” Superbrewed Food’s Non GMO bacterial biomass is 85% protein with meaningful levels of vitamin B12.
At a time when many alt protein companies are struggling to raise funds, Infinite Roots (formerly Mushlabs) has netted $58m from investors including German food retail giant (REWE) and the holding company behind Haribo (HRH).
A spinoff from VTT in Finland, Enifer is targeting human food, petfood, and aquaculture markets with its mycoprotein, produced from a fungal strain first commercialized in the 1970s.
A month into his new role as CEO at fungi-fueled startup MycoTechnology, Dr. Mike Leonard caught up with AgFunderNews to talk about his new role.
One of a small, but high-profile group of startups attempting to decouple food production from agricultural land, Solar Foods uses carbon dioxide and hydrogen instead of sugars to feed its bacteria.
Economies of scale will drive down the cost of precision fermentation. But advances in titer, productivity, and yield are equally important, says Synonym.
Gas fermentation startup Solar Foods is gearing up to open a new plant to demonstrate its technology at larger scale.
Alt meat startup Meati Foods has embarked on its second round of layoffs in three months but says its confidence in its long-term prospects remains ‘unwavering.’
Biomass fermentation startup MycoSure has accelerated its innovation process via a collaboration with leading South African R&D organization the CSIR.
Alt protein startup ENOUGH has raised $43.6 m in a series C round led by World Fund CPT Capital to expand its mycoprotein business.
Bond Pet Food is carving a distinct path in the alt protein space by engineering yeast to produce animal proteins for pet food.
MyForest Foods—a New York-based startup making whole cuts of meat from mushroom mycelium—has raised $15 million in Series A-2 funding and hired Greg Shewchuk as its new CEO.
ADM has entered a strategic development agreement with Air Protein, a startup seeking to decouple food production from agricultural land by using carbon dioxide and hydrogen, rather than sugar, to fuel its fermentation-based food production platform.
Farmless—a Dutch startup using carbon dioxide, rather than sugar, to fuel its fermentation-based food production platform—has raised €1.2 million ($1.3 million) in a pre-seed round.
Aqua Cultured Foods has raised $5.5 million in a seed round led by Stray Dog Capital to expand its fermentation-based production platform for high-protein whole cuts of fungi-based seafood.
The #1 priority for new trade association Food Fermentation Europe is helping startups navigate the regulatory pathway for approving novel foods in the EU: a lengthy and uncertain process that right now, they argue, is “completely unclear.”
The alternative protein sector was ‘overhyped, but now its demise is being over exaggerated,’ said investors at a recent industry event as the GFI unveiled results of a global investor survey suggesting a mood of cautious optimism.
Billions of dollars have flowed to precision fermentation and biomass fermentation companies in recent years, says Synonym Bio. “But achieving commercial adoption requires a network of large-scale infrastructure, which does not yet exist.”
Investors are reluctant to fund large-scale fermentation facilities before products are tested in the marketplace, says Superbrewed Food, which has paused plans to build out its own biomass fermentation plant in Minnesota and is now aiming to scale up with a partner so it can still enter the market this year.
