Solar Foods Secures €350,000 in EU Hydrogen Valley Project to Expand Solein Output
Finnish food technology company Solar Foods has joined BalticSeaH2, a large-scale EU-funded hydrogen initiative, receiving €350,000 to increase production capacity of Solein at its Factory 01 facility in Finland. BalticSeaH2 is a five-year project launched in June 2023 with a total budget of €33 million, of which €25 million comes from the EU’s Clean Hydrogen Partnership under RePowerEU. The consortium spans 40 partners across nine Baltic Sea countries and is …
California Startup Fermeate Closes $2M Seed Round for Light-Based Fermentation Control Technology
California-based startup Fermeate has raised $2 million in seed funding to scale its optogenetics platform, which uses light signals to control gene expression inside microbial cells during fermentation. The round was led by Newfund Capital, with participation from SOSV and Ajinomoto Group Ventures. The technology inserts light-sensitive proteins into microbial strains, enabling manufacturers to activate or deactivate specific genes in real time. A targeted promoter directs which enzyme or protein …
AI-Integrated Fermentation Capacity Expands at Praj Matrix as India Targets Bio-Based Economy
Indian industrial biotech company Praj Industries has launched an Advanced Precision Fermentation Lab at its Praj Matrix R&D centre in Pune, India, alongside a formal research partnership with BRIC-NCCS (Biotechnology Research and Innovation Council – National Centre for Cell Science). The facility is designed to support high-capacity, AI-enabled fermentation processes across sectors, including food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, biofuels, and beverages, with a stated focus on reducing scale-up risks and improving process …
Yeast-Based Ingredient Startup Cosaic Closes $6 Million Round Backed by dsm-firmenich Ventures
Swiss fermentation startup Cosaic has secured a $6 million seed extension to advance its yeast-based ingredient platform toward commercial launch. The round was led by dsm-firmenich Ventures, the venture arm of dsm-firmenich, a global ingredients and nutrition company. Additional participants include a Swiss family office, Swiss deeptech investor Kickfund, and existing backers Navus Ventures and Zuercher Kantonalbank. What Cosaic is building Cosaic is developing a new category of food ingredients …
Clean Food Group Raises £4.5M to Bring “World’s Largest” Yeast-Oil Facility to Full Capacity
UK biotech manufacturer Clean Food Group (CFG) has raised £4.5 million in a funding round led by Clean Growth Fund and new investor New Agrarian, with the capital earmarked for scaling its fermentation facility in Knowsley, Liverpool. The company has also received a £700,000 non-dilutive grant from Innovate UK. The Knowsley site, which CFG acquired in September 2025, holds one million litres of fermentation capacity and is positioned as what …
Standing Ovation Secures $34.2M to Bring Fermentation-Derived Casein to US Market
Paris-based Standing Ovation has closed a $34.2 million Series B round as it prepares to bring its precision fermentation-produced casein to commercial scale, with North America as its first target market. The round comprises $28.5 million in equity, co-led by Bpifrance’s Ecotechnologies 2 fund under the French government’s France 2030 initiative, and Crédit Mutuel Innovation, with participation from returning and new investors including Danone Ventures. A further $5.7 million in …
Vivici Debuts Precision-Fermented Lactoferrin in the US Market
Dutch precision fermentation specialist Vivici has announced the U.S. launch of its lactoferrin ingredient, Vivitein™ LF. The company will showcase its portfolio of functional protein ingredients at Expo West 2026 in Anaheim. According to a company statement, Vivitein™ offers nutrition innovators a lactoferrin ingredient that overcomes the supply and cost constraints of traditional lactoferrin production: “Vivitein™ LF is produced through precision fermentation, unlocking access to one of dairy’s most valuable …
EU Project Fabulose Scales Biotech-Derived Cellulose into Circular Vegan Leather Alternatives
Fabulose is an EU funded project coordinated by the German Institutes of Textile and Fiber Research (DITF). Its consortium consists of leading research institutes, biotech innovators, and industry stakeholders who aim to create high-performance, biobased and recyclable leather-like fabrics, using efficient biotech production routes for bacterial cellulose, cyanophycin and bacterial pigments. Current leather alternatives are either made from petrol-based plastics and non-recyclable, or they are (partly) biobased, but difficult to …
Verley Secures $38 Million Series A to Commercialize Precision-Fermented Dairy Proteins
French precision fermentation company Verley has secured an oversubscribed $38 million Series A financing round, four years after its inception. The round brings together top European players: new investors, including Alven leading the round, Blast and the French Tech Seed fund managed on behalf of the French government by Bpifrance as part of France 2030, and historical investors Sofinnova, Sparkfood, Captech and Founders Future. With additional non-dilutive support from Bpifrance, …
Those Vegan Cowboys Raise €2.5 Million in One Day for ‘Cow-Free Cheese’ via Crowdfunding
One day before the official launch of their crowdfunding campaign, Those Vegan Cowboys, the ‘stainless steel cow’ company by the founders of The Vegetarian Butcher, have already raised €2.5 million by 600 new shareholders. “The level of support for this systemic change says it all,” said CEO Hille van der Kaa. The company states that it opened the crowdfunding campaign to a select group of pre-registrants 24 hours ahead of …