🧫 Methane-Eating Microbes Milestone

If plant-based substitutes for meat, eggs, dairy and seafood – are to occupy (at least) 11% of the global protein market by 2035, then now is a crucial time to invest in the technologies and their Founders to help us get there.

Just this week Project Eaden raised €15M to scale next-gen whole cuts with their textile-inspired technology.

Their unique manufacturing method texturizes plant-based proteins to closely replicate the feel of traditional meat and is created with a clean ingredient list that’s high protein, low salt and fat, and no e-numbers.

Next up, Project Eaden will be bringing home the bacon ham as it plans to launch its plant-based ham products with REWE supermarkets across Germany.

This week in FoodTech:
🧫 Cost-effective cultivated caviars
☕️ Series B for 50:50 beanless coffee blend
🧀 Animal-free cheese using microbial casein

The Digest

🔬 RSSL, Imperial College London and The Supplant Company have launched the UK's first Novel Foods Expert Network for Regulatory Challenges, funded by Innovate UK, to drive innovation, collaboration, and streamlined regulation in the novel foods sector.

🚀 V-Label launched C-Label, the first global certification for cultivated food products, requiring animal-free cell growth media, minimal animal interventions, GMO-free end products, and strict safety and sustainability standards.

🔍 The Non-GMO Project is introducing a Non-UPF certification to help consumers identify products that are free from ultra-processed foods.

🇨🇳 Beijing's Fengtai District has launched China's first alternative protein center for cultivated meat and microbial protein, supported by an ¥80 million investment to advance research and commercialisation efforts.

🇬🇧 Four UK-based alternative protein centres have signed an MoU to collaborate on advancing sustainable, nutritious, and scalable alternative proteins, combining expertise in cellular agriculture, microbial innovation, and plant-based development.

💨 Good Read: Scientists in the US and Saudi Arabia are using wind energy to produce ammonia for sustainable fertiliser.

Fundraising

💰 The US Department of Energy has allocated part of its Technologies for Industrial Emissions Reduction Development Program’s $136 million funding to advance sustainable, low-carbon technologies in the food and beverage industry, focusing on reducing emissions, energy use, and waste while improving production efficiency. Recipients include the likes of Tender Food and Ginkgo Bioworks.

🥩 Germany’s Project Eaden secured €15 million Series A funding to scale its operations and launch its fibre-spun plant-based ham at 3,800 REWE supermarkets in early 2025, as it aims to revolutionise the alternative meat market with “ultra-realistic” taste and texture.

☕️ Seattle startup Atomo Coffee secured $7.8 million Series B funding. It will use the funds to expand sales of its 50:50 beanless coffee blend and support its international expansion plans.

🍫 Pluri Inc. raised $6.5 million in a private investment led by Alejandro Weinstein, and acquired a 71% stake in Israeli cultivated cacao producer Kokomodo for $4.5 million, to advance its cell-based technology development.

🪸 Indonesian seaweed startup Banyu raised $1.25 million seed funding to empower the country’s smallholder farmers with high-quality spore seedlings, advanced techniques, and transparent market access.

🌿 Berlin-based ingarden raised a €1.2 million seed extension to advance its NutriMed™ technology, which enables nutrient-dense, GMO-free microgreens and vegetables to be grown in automated home systems.

Startup Milestones

🧀 New Culture submitted the product label for its animal-free mozzarella for review to California's Department of Food and Agriculture. It is made with precision fermentation casein, and the submission marks a first for animal-free casein products.

🧫 Singapore-based Umami Bioworks unveiled its latest product, cultivated caviar, made from a mix of cultured sturgeon cells and plant-based ingredients, targeting Gen Z whilst creating a more sustainable luxury food market and protecting endangered sturgeon species.

🍔 Dutch startup Mosa Meat filed a novel food application in the EU for its cultivated beef fat, aiming to use it in blended meat products like burgers and meatballs, with potential approval granting market access across 30 European countries.

🧮 Denmark-based Agreena achieved a milestone by registering its AgreenaCarbon Project under Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard, the first large-scale agricultural project to do so, paving the way for issuing certified carbon credits in 2025.

🧬 Pictor Biotech, formed by ex-Novozymes exec Peter Rosholm, has acquired GPC Bio and Eleszto Genetika to build a “vertically integrated synthetic biology and biomanufacturing powerhouse”, offering end-to-end support from strain development to large-scale deployment.

🔍 Nexture Bio has acquired Matrix Food Technologies, combining expertise to expand its portfolio of animal-component-free cell culture products for cellular agriculture, food, and life sciences industries globally.

🔬 US-based Windfall Bio has reached a new milestone as they reach commercial-scale production of methane-eating microbes to transform methane from into rich, organic fertilizer. See it in action

Plant Based

🧀 Hochland Group and Those Vegan Cowboys are joining forces to develop animal-free cheese using microbial casein, with a focus on scaling production for semi-hard and hard cheeses.

🇫🇷 France's Conseil d’Etat is expected to cancel a proposed ban on plant-based meat labels, in what would be a “landslide victory” for the plant-based industry.

🔒 Dutch plant-based cheese company Willicroft has closed after failing to meet its fundraising targets in 2024, despite its innovative approach to sustainable dairy alternatives. Read the farewell.

🫛 Scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst are developing a new type of tempeh using chickpeas and dry peas instead of soybeans, supported by a $387,000 USDA grant.

Big Food

🍷 Aldi UK launched an own-brand Chardonnay in partnership with The Hidden Sea, removing 10 plastic bottles' worth of ocean plastic for every bottle sold.

🇬🇧 Lidl UK launched a new strategy to boost fibre and wholegrain sales, aiming to increase plant-based offerings by 20% by 2030 and improve UK consumers' fibre intake through affordable, fibre-rich products.

❌ PepsiCo is getting sued by the Federal Trade Commission, which alleges it provided unfair pricing advantages to a big-box retailer, causing higher prices for consumers at other stores.

From the Community

Job opportunities with:

• xFarm Technologies (Switzerland) has 2 new marketing roles

• Fresh Ventures Studio (Netherlainds) is hiring an Impact Venture Builder

• Nutrumami (Denmark) is looking for a COO/CCO

• Good Food Institute (Asia) is recruiting a Senior Policy Specialist

7️⃣ Raising a fund? Here’s 7 key learnings from a FoodTech VC.

👀 Why this CPG Founder dresses like a thief outside a supermarket.

🎧 Good listen: Why our food system is in polycrisis.

👋 Join us at the a FoodHack Meetup in Basel, Ljubljana and Lausanne - sign up here

🎬 Recap the highlights from our first Meetup of 2025, in Amsterdam.

🌴 Just for fun: Real time footage as a FoodTech startup pivots.

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Until next time - Stay Hungry