Climate food tech company Brevel has secured over $5 million in a seed extension up-round, taking the total amount of seed funding it has raised to $25 million. The capital will be used to develop microalgae proteins for food and beverage applications and accelerate the commercialization of the company’s products.
The extension is based on exercises of warrants investors were granted in the initial closing of the seed round in June 2023. Notable investors who decided to increase their share in the company include NevaTeam Partners, Siddhi Capital, the European Union’s EIC Fund, Good Protein Fund, The Food Tech Lab, and PVS Investments. Additionally, several new investors were granted access to the extension under the same terms.
With the help of the funding, Brevel will be able to partner with manufacturers for future production lines and sign additional offtake agreements with customers in preparation for large-scale production.
“Impressive progress”
The news follows several recent successes by Brevel, including the completion of a commercial facility said to be the first of its kind and the successful scale-up of the company’s technology to a commercial production volume of 5,000L. Additionally, Brevel has formed a commercial and joint-development agreement with The Central Bottling Company (CBC Group) and has made significant advancements in its development of protein and polar lipid ingredients.
“Our investors chose to reinvest based on Brevel’s impressive progress following the last round,” said Yonatan Golan, co-founder and CEO of Brevel. ”We are dedicated to delivering nutritious protein that can replace animal protein in formulations. Our vision as a climate food-tech startup is to reduce the carbon footprint to a minimum by developing affordable, flavor-neutral, and functional microalgae protein at global scales for consumers. It ticks all the boxes: it’s good for the people, good for our customers, and good for the planet.”
Generating revenue through co-products
Brevel has developed a proprietary technology that combines light with sugar-based fermentation, efficiently producing large quantities of nutrient-rich microalgae in indoor bioreactors without the need for genetic modification. This overcomes the limitations of traditional fermentation, which must take place in dark environments and reportedly produces microalgae that is poor in light dependent nutrients, functionalities, and commercial value.
Using an advanced downstream process, Brevel produces a white, neutral-flavored microalgae protein isolate powder. This can be used in a variety of meat and dairy alternatives, and is claimed to provide excellent emulsifying, gelling, and foaming properties. Additionally, the ingredient is said have remarkable nutritional value, including a complete amino acid profile.
Brevel’s technology also produces valuable co-products such as a functional oil with potent emulsifying properties, antioxidants that can be used in supplements, and nutritional fibers for food applications. This provides increased revenue, helping to achieve price parity for the protein isolate and each co-product.
“Our business model is similar to that of soy protein,” said Golan. “The revenue must come from the co-products just as with soy and meat products. Our combined light and fermentation platform allows us to capitalize on all of the components of the microalgae and not just the protein portion.”
