Formo, a producer of precision-fermented casein for dairy applications, has appointed Dr. Andreas Heyl as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). The news comes as the company accelerates the industrial scale-up and commercialization of its precision fermentation platform.
Heyl has more than two decades of experience in scaling advanced food, chemical, and biotechnology processes into industrial production. He has previously held senior leadership roles at Lonza and ICL Group, including CTO positions overseeing global R&D, strategic innovation, and industrialization agendas. Additionally, he co-founded the industrial biotech company Insempra.
More recently, Heyl has advised high-impact industrial ventures on scaling technologies from pilot to commercial manufacturing and bringing their products to market. Furthermore, he has served as Innovation Manager to Germany’s Federal Agency for Breakthrough Innovation, SPRIN-D.
“This is a decisive phase for Formo,” said Raffael Wohlgensinger, founder and CEO of Formo. “Andreas brings deep experience in industrializing complex technologies under real economic constraints. His decision to join the executive team reflects both the strength of our technology platform and the momentum we are building toward commercialization.”
Technical and economic maturity
Heyl has joined Formo following close engagement with the company’s technology and manufacturing roadmap. He was compelled by Formo’s leadership position in precision-fermented casein, including the demonstrated functional performance of the ingredient and the company’s executable path toward cost-competitive unit economics.
As CTO, Heyl will execute and accelerate Formo’s scale-up, product application development, and cost-down trajectory. This will include strengthening industrial robustness, compressing time-to-scale, and supporting customer-led commercialization as the company works to expand customer engagement and scale manufacturing.
The news comes after Formo secured a €35 million venture debt loan from the European Investment Bank last year to further develop and scale its fermentation processes.
“Formo’s precision fermentation platform has reached a level of technical and economic maturity that makes industrial scale-up not just possible, but compelling,” said Dr. Andreas Heyl. “The fundamentals are in place. My role is to accelerate execution along the cost and scale curves and work closely with customers and partners to bring this technology into commercial reality.”
