Revo Foods & Paleo Unveil €2.2M EU-Backed Project for Salmon Alternatives with Animal-Free Heme
Two alternative protein startups, Austria’s Revo Foods, a manufacturer of 3D-printed vegan seafood, and Belgium’s Paleo, a precision fermentation startup developing animal-free heme, have joined forces to advance sustainable and realistic seafood alternatives. In a project initiated earlier this year and funded by the European Union’s Eurostars program with €2.2 million, the companies are working to develop a “unique” animal-free salmon heme for Revo Foods’ 3D salmon fillet. Speaking to …
Impossible Foods and Motif FoodWorks Settle Heme Patent Tech Dispute
Impossible Foods and Motif FoodWorks have announced a joint settlement agreement regarding the legal battle over a patent infringement of heme technology using yeast and precision fermentation. Under the deal, Impossible Foods would acquire Motif FoodWorks‘ heme-related business. The agreement also stipulates neither party can renew allegations or bring the issue back to court, reported AFN. With this settlement, Impossible Foods, which produces the protein soy leghemoglobin found in soy, …
Ergo Bioscience Creates “Animal Proteins, Without Animals” for the Next Generation of Plant-Based
Ergo Bioscience, recognized in 2022 by FoodBytes! from Rabobank as one of the 15 most disruptive food tech startups worldwide, specializes in developing complex animal proteins such as bovine myoglobin and casein through plant cell culture. Founded in May 2020 with pre-seed investment from CITES, the startup boasts a team of 12 scientists dedicated to innovation and biotechnology to create animal-free ingredients. With biotech research in Wilmington, Delaware, laboratories in …
Impossible Burger Closer to EU Market as “Bleeding” Fermented Heme Deemed Safe
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has deemed Impossible Foods‘ precision fermentation-derived heme — soy leghemoglobin — safe for consumption. Soy leghemoglobin is responsible for the famous “bleeding” meat-like color and flavor of the Impossible Burger and other beef products of the US plant-based meat company. The additive, intended to be used as a coloring agent in meat analogs, is proposed to be included at a maximum level of 0.8%. …
10 Molecular Farming Startups Transforming Everyday Plants into Protein Powerhouses
Today, we bring you a roundup of molecular farming startups transforming plants into biofactories to produce alternatives to animal proteins, pigments, next-gen sweeteners, and growth factors. Plant molecular farming, an additional production approach to plant-based, cultivated, and fermentation, promises unlimited and cost-effective ingredients for food and other industries. Since it doesn’t require expensive infrastructure and bioreactors — only the magic of plants and bioengineering — existing greenhouses and fields can become ingredient factories, ensuring …
Paleo Opens New Facility in Belgium for Animal-Free Heme, Reveals Expansion Plans for 2024
On the back of its successful €12 million funding round last year, biotech company Paleo has opened a new pilot-scale facility in Leven, Belgium, at the Bio-Incubator Leuven. The company, which specializes in developing proteins via precision fermentation, aims to use the new laboratory facilities to accelerate the production and commercialization of its flagship product, animal-free heme. Speaking to vegconomist, the company outlined its plans for 2024, including making significant progress …
Bleeding Burgers for Vegan Dogs? Paleo Files World’s First Patent for Animal-Free Heme for Pet Food
Paleo, a precision fermentation startup from Belgium that produces alternative proteins for plant-based foods, is venturing into the plant-based pet food market with an animal-free heme ingredient. Today, the company announces that it has filed and published what it claims is the “world-first” patent application for using its animal-free heme in pet food formulations. Paleo’s portfolio of heme includes the animal myoglobins found in beef, chicken, pork, lamb, tuna, and mammoth. …
Paleo Considers Legal Action Against Vow Regarding the Mammoth Meatball
Belgian precision fermentation firm Paleo announces it is considering legal action against Vow, an Australian cultivated meat company, for claiming that mammoth myoglobin protein is Vow’s invention, “while knowing that the technology (mammoth myoglobin) was already developed two years ago by Paleo, with patent applications ongoing.” Paleo develops animal-free heme proteins as ingredients for the alt meat sector. It focuses on producing myoglobin, a heme protein found in animal muscles. In July 2022, …
Motif FoodWorks Partners with IngredientWerks to Explore Creating Animal-Free Heme From Corn
Food tech startup Motif FoodWorks announces it is partnering with IngredientWerks, an agtech ingredients company, to develop high-value plant-based proteins for the alt-protein market. Through the research partnership, the two companies say they will explore new ways to optimize heme protein production through molecular farming. According to Motif, the partners have begun an exploratory study aimed at recreating Motif’s HEMAMI™ ingredient using corn. HEMAMI is used to give plant-based meats …