ÄIO to Develop Novel Fat Ingredient from Industrial Side-Streams Under €2.3M Project
Estonian biotechnology firm ÄIO has secured €1.2 million in public funding from Enterprise Estonia to scale production of its yeast-based Flavoured Fat ingredient through a new three-year project titled FERM-OIL. The total project budget is €2.3 million. The funding will support the transition of ÄIO’s fermentation-based fat from lab-scale development to industrial manufacturing. The company’s Flavoured Fat, a lipid-rich yeast biomass, is intended as a replacement for animal fats and …
Those Vegan Cowboys Raise €6.25M to Commercialize Precision-Fermented Casein
Belgium-based precision fermentation company Those Vegan Cowboys has closed a €6.25 million funding round to accelerate the development of its animal-free casein for use in dairy applications. The new capital will be used to scale production of casein—the key functional protein in dairy—without the use of animals. The startup, headquartered in Ghent, Belgium, says the funding provides the necessary resources to move its dairy-identical cheese, yogurt, and chocolate products toward …
Illinois Ranks Third in US for Alternative Protein Companies, Report Finds
A newly released report from the Illinois Alternative Protein Innovation Task Force outlines a multi-sector plan to expand the state’s role in alternative protein production, citing benefits across economic development, public health, and agricultural diversification. The report is the result of a two-year review led by the task force formed by Governor J.B. Pritzker in 2023, described as the first of its kind at the state level in the United …
Brazil’s Typcal Inaugurates New Facility for Its Sustainable Mycoprotein
Typcal, a Brazilian producer of sustainable mycoprotein ingredients, has announced the inauguration of a new production facility in the municipality of Pinhais, part of the Metropolitan region of the city of Curitiba. The facility will allow Typcal to commence commercial-scale production, which could enable the company to begin selling its ingredients in Europe and Latin America by next year. Typcal will initially offer fresh and powdered mycoprotein products, but is …
EU Biotech Act Excludes Novel Foods From Regulatory Sandboxes in “Missed Opportunity”
The European Commission has published the new Biotech Act, which aims to boost the EU’s global competitiveness in biotechnology. The Act is mainly focused on the health sector, but also includes measures that could help commercialise the findings of European researchers working on techniques such as precision fermentation. Nonprofit think tank GFI Europe has welcomed parts of the Act, including plans to expand the advice regulators provide to innovators bringing …
The Cultured Hub Introduces Bioprocessing Support for Cocoa, Coffee, and Citrus Cell Lines
The Cultured Hub, a joint venture between Migros, Givaudan, and Bühler Group, has expanded its operations to include plant cell culturing technologies, widening its focus beyond cultivated meat to alternative ingredient production. The development was formally introduced at the inaugural Cultured Plant Cell Event 2025, held at the company’s facility in Kemptthal. Initially established to support cellular agriculture and cultivated meat startups, The Cultured Hub now provides infrastructure and process …
Solar Foods Reveals Location of Its First Industrial-Scale Production Facility
Air-based protein producer Solar Foods has chosen a site in Selkäharju, Lappeenranta, Finland, as the location of its first industrial-scale production facility, Factory 02. Solar Foods’ existing facility, Factory 01, can produce 160 tons of protein annually; Factory 02 will significantly increase this capacity to 6,400 tons per year. The final investment decision regarding the construction of the new facility is expected to be made in 2026. Solar Foods considered …
FoodNavigator Reveals Top 30 Food-Tech Innovators of 2025
FoodNavigator has released its list of the 30 most innovative food-tech companies, selected from 78 entries in its 2025 Global Food Tech Awards. The selection reflects a strong focus on technological responses to challenges such as supply chain instability, nutritional deficits, resource scarcity, and environmental degradation. Fermentation and artificial intelligence dominated the field, alongside a growing emphasis on bioactive functionality in ingredients. The awards examined companies across three regions—EMEA, the …
South Korea’s SeaWith Partners with 3D Bio-Tissues to Lower Cultivated Meat Costs
UK-based biotech company 3D Bio-Tissues (3DBT), a subsidiary of BSF Enterprise PLC, has signed a commercial supply agreement with South Korean cultivated meat developer SeaWith. The deal will see 3DBT supply its proprietary cell culture supplement, City-Mix®, to support SeaWith’s cultivated beef production. £300,000 deal to support scale-up The agreement, valued at approximately £300,000, establishes a regular shipment of City-Mix® to SeaWith. The product is designed to improve cell growth …
Joes Future Food Commissions “China’s Largest” Cultivated Meat Pilot Plant
Chinese cultivated meat producer Joes Future Food has announced the commissioning of what is claimed to be the country’s largest cultivated meat pilot plant. The company has also completed a scaled trial production of cultivated pork in a 2000-liter bioreactor, a move that has been described as a world first. The pilot facility integrates a complete technological chain, from cell line development and low-cost serum-free media to large-scale bioprocessing. This …