Big Idea Ventures, which invests in the alternative protein and ingredient industry, has announced its first New Protein Fund II Paris and New York accelerator company investments.
Ten early-stage startups were selected for pre-seed investment as part of Big Idea Ventures’ bi-annual new protein accelerator program.
“The 10 companies in our first cohort of NPF II are backed by fantastic innovators and creative minds. Through this cohort, we are looking for the best companies in the ecosystem that can help usher in the next generation of alternative proteins leaders. These companies showcase the breadth of the alternative protein industry beyond just meat applications. It is a testament to how enabling technologies, fats applications and biomaterials are helping existing companies grow and scale at a more rapid pace,” said Andrew D. Ive, founder of Big Idea Ventures.
“I encourage investors, corporate leaders, and partners to reach out to the founders of the companies that most excite them and find out more about the innovative technologies and applications they are developing.”
New York accelerator
“This cohort represents the true diversity of innovation happening across the Americas! With representation from two Latin American countries, including our first investment in Brazil, we are excited to see the continued maturation of the industry across multiple geographies. We expect exciting developments in the fields of enabling technology to sidestream valorization, and continued improvements in scalability in cultivated meat,” said Caroline Mak, senior program director New York.
- Future Cow (Brazil) — Brazil’s first cellular agriculture startup using precision fermentation for alternative dairy using agro-industrial waste to replicate the molecular proteins produced by cows. Their animal-free milk is molecularly identical to traditional dairy but with significantly less environmental impact.
- Harvest Moon Foods (Canada) — first company in Canada harnessing the power of precision fermentation to transform agricultural waste into valuable dairy proteins. Their superior quality recombinant proteins will revolutionize alternative dairy in Canada and around the world.
- Naturannova (Chile) — creates natural, healthier and sustainable peptide-based flavors for food and beverage manufacturers. They use a proprietary Natural AI technology to accurately and rapidly predict and decode these peptides hidden in nature, creating new and unique natural ingredients that are healthier and more sustainable.
- Pioneer Biolabs (US) — B2B biomanufacturing company leveraging its proprietary genomic screening platform to engineer and optimize microbial cells for protein production. Access to the platform provides companies with faster bioprocess development times and strains that outcompete other players in the industry.
- SoundEats (US) — a cultivated seafood pioneer that adopts a meticulous science-forward approach to crafting high-quality contractile muscle tissue. They harness technological advancements in synthetic biology to dramatically reduce the production costs of cultivated seafood in a scalable format.
Paris accelerator
“This is the first time that we have only B2B companies in the same cohort. They are working on functional ingredients, fermentation platforms, hardware, software, to accelerate the go-to-market of alternative proteins with more scalable, affordable and tastier products. It’s incredible to see how fast the industry is growing thanks to these enabling technologies. I believe we can facilitate multiple synergies with our 100+ portfolio companies to accelerate the transition towards a more sustainable food system,” said Marion Bazille, program director Paris.
- New Wave Biotech (UK) — develops bioprocess optimisation software to help alternative proteins and other synbio products get to market quicker, cheaper and more sustainably. Their Software automatically optimizes bioprocesses to accelerate R&D, reduce production costs and improve process sustainability.
- Perfat Technologies (Finland) — a technology company that develops and produces value added fat solutions for the food industry. Perfat’s versatile solutions can be tailored to a broad range of food applications, and since they are made from healthy and sustainable vegetable oils, they deliver a superior nutritional profile compared to traditional semi-solid and solid fats.
- PFx Biotech (Portugal) — develops a systems biology platform for the large-scale production of highly bioactive human milk proteins. These alternative proteins can be used in infant- and follow-up- formula, as well as in sports and elderly nutrition market segments.
- Yeastime (Italy) — develops retrofitted ultrasound devices to help food producers in the field of cell culturing produce up to 30% more output in less time & in a more sustainable and cost effective manner.
- Zymoscope (Denmark) — revolutionizes biomanufacturing with an IoT Fermentation Management Platform (FMP), enhancing capacity, yield, and cost-efficiency through data-driven, continuous process monitoring and control.
Big Idea Ventures has now made more than 110 early-stage investments in the alternative protein and ingredient categories. It is also the first time that Big Idea Ventures has made an investment in Italy, Denmark, Finland, Portugal and Brazil, bringing the total number of countries BIV has invested in to 30.
A third round of investments is being made through Big Idea Ventures’ Singapore office, and selected companies will be announced soon.
Jim Cornall is editor of Future Food Today and publisher at Ayr Coastal Media. He is an award-winning writer, editor, photographer, broadcaster, designer and author. Contact Jim here.
