Protein Brewery raise €22m in Series A

The Series A investment round, which brings the total amount invested into the Dutch food and feed maker to €26m, was led by Novo Holdings. New investors Roquette Ventures and Unovis Asset Management participated in the financing.

The Protein Brewery said it will use the proceeds to build a production plant for its Fermotein product at demonstration scale. The company targets the €30bn growth market for alternative proteins. Fermotein will be available in both wet ‘cake’ product, as well as a dry powder form. The wet product can be used in applications such as meat alternatives or processed meats, while the dry version can be used as a food ingredient for a great variety of products including pasta, bakery products, protein bars, shakes, chocolate and ice cream. Due to the innovative nature, the Fermotein product requires regulatory approval for application as a food ingredient. The Protein Brewery is already in the application process for the US and European markets, with regulatory approval anticipated in 2021 in the US and 2022 in Europe.
The company that was founded in 2020 based on a demerger of the ten-year-old microbial fermentation specialist BioscienZ, combines The Protein Brewery’s proprietary fungi with a cost-effective and easy-to-operate brewing process. This product has a nutritional profile and an amino acid composition similar to conventional meat while using only 1% of land, 3% of CO2 and 5% of water compared to the use of land and water in the beef industry. It has one of the lowest ecological footprints of all proteins – animal-based and animal-free. Fermotein can be produced from a large variety of globally available, carbohydrate-rich, water-efficient and non-allergic crops such as casava, corn, potatoes, sugar beet and sugar cane, allowing for commercialization around the globe.