The Good Food Institute’s Post

#Finland-based #Biotech Startup #Enifer Raises €12m in Funding. The funding comes from the European Union NextGenerationEU #recovery instrument. It will support building first-of-its-kind industrial facilities #promoting the reuse and recycling of industrial by-products and waste streams, hence aligning with the EU’s circular #economy action plan and the Sustainable Growth Programme for Finland. The commercial-scale factory will produce Enifer’s unique PEKILO® #mycoprotein ingredients, which are made using fungal #fermentation. The PEKILO® fermentation process has a long legacy – it was originally developed by Finnish forest industry engineers in the 1970s. Enifer, a spin-off company from #VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, was founded by five scientists in 2020 to develop and #commercialize the proprietary PEKILO® technology further. Enifer Simo Ellilä Joosu Kuivanen To share your startup story write us on - contact@startuprise.co.uk #enifer #funding #eustartup

💡 Think more like a food company than a lab, advises Jacob Manning, CEO of Exocule, for biotech startups. “The challenge lies in the transition from a small-scale, lab-like environment to a large-scale, economically viable production facility... Our approach addresses this scalability challenge,” adds Manning. “We recognize that as alternative protein production scales up, it needs to operate more like a food company, focusing on efficiency and cost-effectiveness rather than a high-cost science or technology venture. We advocate a shift from traditional bioreactors to smart, lightweight ‘biofermenters’, designed to be more economical and easier to scale, offering a practical solution to the technoeconomic challenges of large-scale precision fermentation.” 🤓 To learn more about Exocule and to read Jacob's insights, as well as those from other precision fermentation pioneers, read the full deep dive on precision fermentation in the latest issue of the Protein Production Technology International magazine. 🔗https://hubs.ly/Q02qCf8q0 #precisionfermentation #biotechnology #bioprocessing #alternativeproteins #proteintechnology #innovation

How will #precisionfermentation companies look to scale their production platforms to be economically viable? From a broader range of microbial hosts to novel bioreactor design and continuing bioprocessing systems, different startups proposed various solutions to help the industry achieve viable unit economics at scale. Interestingly, the conference discussed the cost-scale paradox for startups, the idea that companies can only compete on the market at large scales but cannot finance large-scale facilities without showing a market for their products. Coupled with a slowing investment landscape, the conference expressed the need for alternative financing models and methods for scaling infrastructure needs. #cellag #futureoffood #scaling

Rubi Laboratories has been named a Top 50 AgTech & FoodTech innovator by SVG Ventures | THRIVE in the Infrastructure & Materials category! 🌟 Top 50 companies are meticulously selected from thousands of global candidates for their exemplary leadership, cutting-edge technologies, strong investment appeal, and significant market traction. These companies represent the best in agricultural and food-focused innovation, setting the standard for the industry and shaping the future of the global agri-food system. 🏭 Rubi's biocatalysis technology produces CO2-derived critical materials like cellulose and other biopolymers and biochemicals with ultra-low water and land usage. We're on a mission to reinvent manufacturing for humanity's most important materials to be symbiotic with the planet. “Innovation in agriculture and food technology has never been more critical, and the companies featured in this year’s THRIVE Top 50 are at the forefront of driving that change,” said John Hartnett, CEO of SVG Ventures. See the full list here: https://lnkd.in/gXrxDbKG Neeka Mashouf Leila Mashouf

Biotech startup AmphiStar, a leader in sustainable surfactant products, has recently been awarded a €2 million non-dilutive grant from SPRIN-D (Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation). This brings the total funding secured by the Belgian innovator to €10 million this year. AmphiStar’s biotechnology platform utilizes synthetic biology to develop custom molecules that meet specific performance requirements. These tailor-made biosurfactants, derived from organic waste and side streams, not only provide an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional chemically produced surfactants (fossil- and biobased) and other commercial microbial biosurfactants, but also open up new opportunities for innovation in the cleaning, cosmetics, and personal care industries. Pierre-Franck VALENTIN, Sophie Roelants, Bernd Everaert To share your startup story write us on - contact@startuprise.co.uk #Amphistar #biotechnology #Innovation #News #startup #Funding #fundraising https://lnkd.in/gTRfGkeA

Introducing PureAox: Redefining Air Purification for Industry and Commerce: At FundsFarm, we proudly back startups at the forefront of innovation, and PureAox Clean Technology is no exception. With its next-generation technology, PureAox is a seed-stage company transforming air purification in industrial and commercial environments. Their cutting-edge system uses a multi-layered filtration process that captures various contaminants, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), bacteria, and viruses. What sets PureAox apart is its commitment to both efficiency and sustainability. The portable devices offer real-time air quality monitoring and proactive maintenance alerts, ensuring they operate optimally in various settings. This technology is particularly vital for industries where clean air is essential for maintaining productivity and health standards. With a CAD 1 million funding round close to completion, PureAox is ready to scale, setting up production facilities in Canada, accelerating its market entry, and continuing to push the boundaries of air purification technology. Stay tuned for more updates on this game-changing startup! Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gBtUqYKh

Being at the forefront of tech, talent, and impact in deep foodtech is a privilege. I recently shared our top-of-mind list, and there's a lot happening right now. Thanks to FoodHack for putting this together—an interesting read! 1️⃣👩🏻🔬High-impact per kg ingredients: aroma, flavours, and speciality fats. Managing the aroma and flavour input for food and beverage in the face of climate change while securing biodiversity is a problem with few good solutions. Biological solutions hold the key here. More 'straightforward' alternative ingredients that secure sustainable and fair supply chains also excite us.   2️⃣🌱Input, tools, and technologies for sustainable agriculture and farming: We are looking for ways to manage weeds without herbicides, create circular fertilizers and healthy soil, and grow heat—or salt-stress-tolerant crops while also securing biodiversity on land.    3️⃣🔮The thrill of the unknown. The stuff and technologies that we haven’t seen yet transforming our food system. In addition to making incremental changes like eating more plants and less meat, we need radical new technologies. Scientific discovery from universities is the only place from which those can come. That is why we take immense joy in supporting researchers early in developing innovation based on their expertise in and around food, bio solutions and agriculture. This is not just a financial opportunity for an investor but a chance to be part of something truly transformative and impactful.   ➡️Check out all 40 solutions solving the hard problems in food. Have a great HackSummit. …Ready for it? #foodtech #innovation #planetaryhealth #nordicmade #earlystage #impactinvesting Nordic Foodtech VC  

🔥 Hot Take for #worldnutritionday: could ozempic help pave the way for a nutrition-focused food future? By now, we all know that pharmaceuticals like #semaglutide have been dubbed 'magic drugs' for helping people lose weight quickly. However, they also seem to be shifting the entire industry to focus on higher-quality, more nutritious foods. As an example: ➡️ Nestlé just announced its new high-fiber, protein-rich, portion-controlled product line, Vital Pursuit, for the growing number of Americans taking weight loss medications (link below). Whether you love or hate pharma's impact on food trends or view Nestle's move as simply opportunistic, what we are seeing, finally, is some action towards something many of us have long been fighting for: the prioritization of NUTRITION in global innovation and investment strategies. Here are some opportunities we have the chace to grab NOW: 🌱 Breeding Crops for Nutrition: Agriculture must adapt to consumer demands by reprioritizing nutritional outcomes in crop breeding instead of solely focusing on yields and shelf life. 👩🏽🌾 Mainstreaming Regenerative Agriculture: Studies show that enriching soil health naturally increases the nutrient density of crops. High-quality, more nutritious crops are more valuable to food buyers - this makes the business case of #regenag stronger for farmers. 🩺 Driving the 'Food as Medicine' Category: Food technology and health science intersections allow us to address chronic health issues preventatively through better diets. I love experimental models, such as offering lower insurance premiums for families buying more produce. 🍦 Indulging Healthily versus Climate Guilt: Many of us in agrifood tech have focused on the climate angle, but we're finding that only a subset of consumers care about this, and this number decreases with inflationary pressures. Instead of guilting people into better food choices, we can position our innovative, climate-friendly ingredients as ways to support healthy eating through reduced sugar and salt, more protein, and higher levels of nutrients like Omega-3s and minerals. 👵🏻 Focus on Longevity & Thriving:  As our world gets older, we can focus nutrition research and product development on enhancing life quality in later years, not only for infant and early-life nutrition. ➡️ FoodHack listed “GLP-1 Tech” as the #1 top trend investors are on the hunt for: https://lnkd.in/eM8CtEEh. 💰 If you are an entrepreneur working in any of these areas, perhaps you can reframe your positioning to GLP-1 tech to attract capital. Just an idea :) Could the ripple effects of the Ozempic phenomenon underscore a broader movement towards a nutrition-focused future in agriculture and food production? 🙋🏻♀️ Comment below 👇

🔥 Exciting news from Seattle! Arzeda just secured $38M! 🚀 - Innovating protein design for diverse industries - Impact on food, pharma, and agriculture - Power of new enzymes for industrial use What innovations will this funding unlock? 💡👇 #StartupGrowth #Biotech #Innovation #FoodTech

🌱Following on from the last issue, Andrew D Ive from Big Idea Ventures dives deeper into creating a new protein sector in part 2 of his column in Protein Production Technology International. 📈As we transition from the startup phase to the growth stage, the possibilities of plant-based, fermentation-enabled, and cultivated protein technologies are becoming more tangible. It's no longer a question of "Can we?" but rather "How can we do this bigger, at scale?" 📰Check out the full column from Andrew here: https://hubs.ly/Q02mfTgw0 #proteinproduction #innovation #sustainability #alternativeprotein #plantbased #culturedmeat