🐶 Is pet food the future of alt protein?

Does alt protein have a new leash of life?

This week brought a flurry of pet food innovation: Forza10 and BeneMeat unveiled cultivated meat dog food under the Coolty Meat brand, Enifer brought its Pekilo mycoprotein into dog treats with Rovio Pet Foods, Vegan4Dogs launched an algae-based snack, and Australia’s Wagalot is turning surplus fruit and veg into circular dog treats. Bond Pet Foods also landed an FDA “no questions” letter for precision-fermented lamb protein, bringing it a step closer to US pet bowls.

Pet food gives alt protein companies something human food often does not: faster routes to market, clearer functional needs, and consumers who already buy on health, digestibility, sustainability and emotional value - AKA people willing to pamper their furbabies. Looks like alt protein might not be barking up the wrong tree with this one.

This week in FoodTech:

🌿 A sticky solution to the pesticide problem
💪🏼 Consumer love for all things protein means whey’s in short supply
🧠 Patrick Schwarzenegger’s brain health brand brings in $13M

The Digest

🇪🇺 The European Parliament has voted to pass a non-binding resolution urging the European Commission to stop funding NGOs it says promote “misleading” anti-livestock messaging and to study the impact of “food substitutes” in schools.

🌿 Researchers at the University of Waterloo have developed a greener water-based nanotechnology pesticide formulation using modified cellulose nanocrystals that helps droplets stick to hydrophobic plant leaves rather than bouncing, drifting or washing off, reducing pesticide waste and runoff while achieving better pest control.

📈 Surging demand for protein-fortified foods and drinks is causing whey protein supply shortages, according to the USDA, pushing standard whey powder prices up more than 50% since January and forcing brands to weigh price increases or reformulation with alternatives like soy and pea protein as dairy producers race to add capacity. 

🥛 Chile’s Supreme Court has ruled that NotCo can keep using the NotMilk trademark for its plant-based milk alternative, but must remove broader “milk” references and dairy-related imagery from packaging and marketing after dairy trade group Aproval partly succeeded in its unfair-competition case. 

New in Funding

🍓 US vertical farming company Oishii closed the first tranche of a $150 million Series C round led by Sparx Asset Management, with participation from Nomura Real Estate Development, Misumi, Mizuho Bank and others, to scale its Smart Farm model which grows pesticide-free, non-GMO strawberries year-round.

🧠 LA-based brain-health nutrition brand Mosh, founded by Maria Shriver and Patrick Schwarzenegger to make functional protein bars with cognitive wellness ingredients, raised $13 million in a Series A funding round led by Main Street Advisors, with participation from Great Circle Ventures, Rogers Healy and Morrison Seger, PCG and Tonic Ventures, to expand its operations.

🌾 Resurrect Bio, a University of Norwich spinout developing AI-powered technology designed to restore crops’ natural genetic defences against diseases and pests, expanded its Series A to $10.3 million in a round led by Corteva Catalyst with participation from Calculus Capital, Pymwymic, Future Planet Capital, SynBioVen and AgFunder.

🥩 UK startup Adamo Foods secured a €10 million EU Horizon Europe grant through the to scale its triple-patented fungal fermentation platform for whole-cut mycelium steaks to industrial production.

🧫 Israel’s SuperMeat secured $6 million in the first close of a targeted $10 million Series A4 round led by Agronomics and New Agrarian Company, with participation from Milk & Honey Ventures and other existing backers, to support its planned Switzerland launch for its cultivated chicken.

🦠 German startup NanoStruct, which develops nanostructured sensor chips and AI-enabled analysis technology to detect harmful bacteria such as Listeria and Salmonella in food within hours, raised €2.6 million seed funding in a round led by High-Tech Gründerfonds, Bayern Kapital and AUXXO Female Catalyst Fund.

🛒 Rogue Snacks, based in LA, secured $2.5 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Science Inc. with participation from Uncommon VC, Simple Food Ventures and other strategic investors. It makes chips and puffs with clean ingredients and probiotics, and will use the funds to support its national Walmart rollout.

🧬 US precision fermentation startup Melazyme, founded by former Perfect Day executives Perumal Gandhi and Bonney Oommen, raised $2 million seed funding in a round led by SeaX Ventures with participation from Stellaris Venture Partners and Plug and Play Ventures to advance and scale its platform for high-value biomolecules including ultra-pure melanin for cosmetics, coatings, filtration and environmental applications, plus sweet proteins such as brazzein.

🍄‍🟫 Denmark’s Tempty Foods secured €356,538 from 107 Republic Europe crowdfunding investors to help scale its asset-light, clean-label mycelium-based foods production model across the Nordics and beyond. 

🌱 Seoul-based SOYFT BIOME raised an undisclosed round from MYSC’s ExtraMile Lycon Fund to scale its plant-based cream and sauce lines, using soy fermentation byproducts to create its AquaProtein ingredient for dairy-free, low-sugar applications.

New in Startups

🤝🏼 US synbio company LanzaTech has partnered with the Technical University of Denmark’s Bright hub to establish a two-year, AI-powered C1 biofoundry that will use gas-fermenting microbes to convert industrial carbon emissions into sustainable fuels, chemicals, materials and other high-value bio-based products. 

🧁 California-based Ruby Bio plans to launch what it says is the world’s first fermentation-derived clean-label emulsifier portfolio in 2027, using non-GMO yeast and low-cost feedstocks to replace palm- or petrochemical-derived additives in foods such as bakery, beverages, dressings, sauces and ice cream.

🦮 Bond Pet Foods received a US FDA “no questions” letter for its precision-fermented Lamb Protein Yeast, developed with Hill’s Pet Nutrition, clearing the ingredient for use at up to 15% in healthy adult dog food.

🛒 UK startup CarbonTrac is targeting major supermarkets with an AI-powered tool for loyalty apps that gives shoppers real-time, personalised insights into the nutritional value and environmental impact of their groceries.

🍫 California Cultured is partnering with UC Davis on a project to make plant cell-cultured cocoa commercially viable, working towards commercial cocoa powder production in early 2027 to fulfil an existing purchase order from an unnamed chocolate company. 

🥚 The EVERY Company has asked a Delaware court to sanction Onego Bio over what it calls duplicative, false and abusive litigation in an escalating precision-fermentation egg-protein IP dispute. 

🥕 Australian pet treat maker Wagalot launched DOGood, a dog food range made from unsold fruit and vegetables rescued from Melbourne’s Prahran Market.

Plant-Based

🏭 Danone is closing its plant-based beverage facility in Bridgeton, New Jersey, which produces Silk and So Delicious Dairy Free drinks, while the company continues to invest in conventional dairy capacity following “unsatisfactory” North American plant-based performance in 2025. 

⚽️ Beyond Meat has signed former England footballer and broadcaster Karen Carney as its UK ambassador for 2026,.

🐕‍🦺 German vegan pet food brand Vegan4Dogs launched Rudolf DHA Algae Bites, a dry heart-shaped dog snack delivering DHA, DPA and EPA omega-3s from microalgae.

🐩 Finland’s Enifer has joined forces with Rovio Pet Foods to develop a semi-moist dog treat made with its EU-approved Pekilo mycoprotein ingredient.

Big Food

🇮🇹 Italian poultry major Amadori Group has acquired Bologna-based plant-based protein brand Unconventional from dairy producer Granarolo for an undisclosed sum, in a move that makes it Italy’s third-largest branded player in plant-based processed foods.

🍫 Cargill has partnered with California startup Voyage Foods to launch NextCoa, a cocoa-free, plant-based confectionery alternative made with ingredients such as grape seeds.

🐶 Italian pet food brand Forza10 has teamed up with Czech cultivated meat company BeneMeat to launch Coolty Meat, billed as the EU’s first complete cultivated dog food, combining 26% cultivated hamster-derived meat with vegetables and other ingredients.

🍰 Ingredion has made a $3.7 billion takeover proposal for UK-based competitor Tate & Lyle, offering up to 615p per share - a 64% premium.

💡 Kersia UK launched BioDtex, an advanced detection lamp that helps food manufacturers rapidly identify organic matter, chemical residue, scale and other surface contamination within seconds and in normal lighting.

From the Community

✅ The next ClimateHack Meetups are in Nairobi (May 17th) and Stockholm (May 28th). Save the dates!

👩🏻‍🌾 RespectFarms is hosting the first Cell Farmers Symposium on June 4th, to bring together stakeholders from agritech, cellular agriculture, food policy, research, and investment to address the industrial and agricultural integration of cellular cultivation.

🌱 Just for fun. THIS is opening a free vegan tattoo parlour for its plant-based steak campaign.

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Until next time - Stay Hungry