“I don’t think that there is any major dairy company in the world that isn’t researching cow-less products,” says Finally Foods cofounder Dafna Gabbay.
While multiple startups engineer microbes to produce animal proteins via precision fermentation, PoLoPo and others in the ‘molecular farming’ space claim the unit economics of growing them in genetically engineered plants are more favorable.
“This is the culmination of seven years of R&D to get expression levels to a point where the science and the economics make sense,” says founder and CEO Magi Richani.
“In 2016, I spoke to a lot of investors that said, ‘Why would anybody produce casein in plants when you can easily do it via precision fermentation?’ The same people are now coming back and saying, ‘Actually what you’re doing makes a lot of sense,'” says Alpine Bio founder Magi Richani.
The Israeli startup leverages AI technology from computational biology specialist Evogene it claims will dramatically speed up the R&D process.
Motif FoodWorks CEO Dr. Mike Leonard has left the Boston-based foodtech firm, AgFunderNews has learned. His departure comes as the firm engages in a new round of layoffs.
Moolec Science – a startup developing a molecular farming platform to produce plants that express animal proteins – has raised $30m from strategic investors via convertible notes.
Foodtech incubator and investor The Kitchen Hub is raising a $70m fund and launching The Kitchen Labs, an innovation center for startups.
What’s the most efficient production platform for growth factors, pricey proteins used to stimulate cell growth and differentiation in cultivated meat?
Molecular farming startup IngredientWerks has genetically engineered corn crops to express high levels of bovine myoglobin in a process it claims can scale at a fraction of the cost of precision fermentation.
US regulators have warned startups in the emerging field of ‘molecular farming’ that expressing animal proteins such as casein in genetically engineered plants will require strict allergen management protocols.
In part two of our roundup from the Future Food-Tech summit in San Francisco, we highlight startups spanning everything from molecular farming to upcycled prebiotic fibers.
While investor sentiment has soured on alternative proteins, last month’s Future Food Tech summit in San Francisco attracted a record number of foodtech startups showcasing everything from foodie chatbots to upcycled prebiotic fibers.
Is it more efficient to make “animal-free” proteins in plants or fermentation tanks? Motif FoodWorks, which currently makes myoglobin via precision fermentation, is now exploring whether corn could also serve as an effective host via a partnership with molecular farming startup IngredientWerks.
