Enifer Breaks New Ground as First Nordic Firm to Seek Novel Food Approval for Mycoprotein
Finnish biotech company Enifer announces that it has applied for regulatory approval from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to sell its flagship ingredient, PEKILO, in the EU. The company claims to be the first Nordic company to apply for a mycoprotein under novel foods. This regulatory step marks a significant milestone in the company’s commercialization efforts, which recently secured funding to build a €33 million production facility, scheduled for …
Finnish Alternative Protein Firms Secure €10M for Collaborative R&D Projects From Business Finland
Business Finland has granted two Finnish projects — FoodID and FinBioFAB — 10 million euros in R&D funding to create alternative proteins and materials through research collaboration. The Finnish projects were accepted into the Global Centers program led by the US National Science Foundation (NSF), operated jointly by six countries aiming for breakthrough solutions to global challenges. This year’s funding call focused on the bioeconomy, with the main themes being biofoundries …
BioMush Unveils Plug-and-Play Fermentation Tech to Turn Industry Sidestreams into Umami Ingredients
Finnish food tech company BioMush has developed solid-state fermentation technology using fungi to transform edible side streams and food waste into umami-flavored ingredients. The innovation targets food industry operators to help them address industrial waste while creating natural, clean-label flavoring solutions for plant-based foods. Outi Mäkinen, Tytti-Lotta Ojala, and Reetta Andolin founded BioMush in 2021 in Espoo. Under the leadership of CEO Kaisa Karhunen, the startup has raised $3.08 million to address …
The World’s Most Sustainable Protein ‘Solein’ Achieves GRAS Status, Heads for US Debut
Solar Foods announces that it has achieved self-affirmed Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status for its air-based protein Solein in the USA. This milestone will allow the company to introduce the novel ingredient, offering a new alternative to animal and plant proteins. Claimed as the most sustainable protein in the world, the company expects its debut by the end of 2024. The biotech explains that it conducted large-scale scientific research, …
Solar Foods to List on Nasdaq, Bolstering Growth Plans for ‘Solein’ Air-Based Protein
Air-based protein developer Solar Foods announces plans to list on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market Finland. The listing is expected to occur in September as a technical listing without any share issue or sale. Based in Helsinki, the biotech has raised €69.6 million from various investors, including Fazer, Lifeline Ventures, Agronomics, CPT Capital, Voima Ventures, and various family office investment companies. According to the company, its more than 2,000 shareholders …
Onego Bio Secures $15.2M for Animal-Free Bio-Identical Egg Protein
US-Finnish precision fermentation company Onego Bio has secured $15.2 million in funding from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator Program and other Series A investors. This takes the amount raised by the company in 2024 to $55 million, and its total funding to $70.8 million. Onego Bio produces Bioalbumen®, an animal-free bio-identical egg protein manufactured as an industrial food ingredient. Bioalbumen is said to have perfect protein quality, full functionality, …
Future of Foods Podcast: Maija Itkonen, CEO of Onego Bio Produces Bio-Identical Egg Proteins Without Chickens
Alex Crisp, host of Future of Foods Interviews, talks to Maija Itkonen, CEO and co-founder of Finnish precision fermentation company Onego Bio, about manufacturing real egg white protein, entirely without the use of chickens, which as Maija explains, are the most abused animal in the world. Onego Bio produces Bioalbumen, which the company says is bioidentical ovalbumin, the most important protein in egg white, delivering the nutritional and functional qualities …
University of Helsinki Develops “Game-Changing” Cultivated Meat Technology Without Growth Medium Using Stem Cells
Pekka Katajisto of the University of Helsinki’s HiLIFE (Helsinki Institute of Life Science) and his team at the Myocopia project have developed a technology based on stem cell research that they believe would allow the large-scale production of cultivated meat, thus bringing affordable products to the market. The Myocopia researchers argue that cultivating meat in bioreactors relies on expensive growth factors to make the cells grow and differentiate, and these …
Enifer Raises €36M for Mycoprotein Facility Producing “The Missing Ingredient for a Sustainable Food Chain”
Finland’s Enifer has secured enough funding to begin the construction of a mycoprotein facility that will upcycle food industry sidestreams into fungi-based protein ingredients. The facility will cultivate up to 3,000 tons of Enifer’s proprietary mycoprotein, PEKILO®, every year; this is said to be enough to meet the annual protein needs of around 40,000 people. According to the company, the plant will be the first worldwide to produce this type …
Ivy Farm Partners with Synbio Powerlabs to Cultivate Meat At “Unprecedented” Scale
UK-based Ivy Farm Technologies announces it has signed a manufacturing agreement with Synbio Powerlabs, a Finnish leader in synthetic biology, to produce its cultivated meat products in large fermenters. According to Synbio Powerlabs, cultivated meat will be produced on an unprecedented scale in Finland. The Finnish firm is converting a sizeable food-grade facility into a fermentation hub supported by a €2.99 million grant from the Finnish government. Expected to be operational …