Dutch precision fermentation company Vivici has secured €12.5 million in funding from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator Program. The company will use the award to scale market access and supply of its Vivitein™ ingredient portfolio.
Vivici was selected following an evaluation process that included an interview before a jury of investors and entrepreneurs, which named the company among 38 start-ups and SMEs receiving support in its latest funding round. Across the cohort, the EIC has allocated roughly €90 million in grants, with a further €202 million set aside for potential equity investment.
A tightening market for conventional whey
Conventional whey protein supply has been facing sustained pressure. Standard whey powder prices have climbed more than 50% since January, with some suppliers already sold out for the remainder of the year, as reported by Food Dive. Vivici produces its proteins using microorganisms engineered to secrete dairy-identical proteins, an approach that does not depend on the cheese industry’s supply chain, where conventional whey is generated as a byproduct.
Vivici raised €32.5 million in a Series A round in February 2025 and has since launched its second ingredient, lactoferrin, in the US market under self-affirmed GRAS status, building on the earlier domestic launch of its flagship beta-lactoglobulin protein.
Among the other companies selected in this EIC round is French start-up MUMILK, which is developing infant nutrition ingredients through mammalian cell bioproduction under its NūmiMilk brand.
Stephan van Sint Fiet, CEO of Vivici, stated, “Securing the support of the EIC is a powerful endorsement of what we are building at Vivici. It tells us that Europe sees the same opportunity we do, to turn the promise of precision fermentation into a commercial reality, at scale, for the benefit of customers and consumers. This funding allows us to move faster on exactly that.”
