Brevel, a microalgae-based alternative protein company, has completed its seed funding round of $18.5M.
The funds will be used to provide an alternative protein that is neutral-tasting, functional, highly sustainable and affordable to the mainstream food industry. The round was led by NevaTeam Partners and supported by the European Union’s EIC Fund, as well as other leading food and climate funds and strategic partners from within the food industry.
Brevel’s technology is the first in the world to combine sugar-based fermentation of microalgae with high light concentrations at industrial scales to produce a protein that will be incorporated by food manufacturers into plant-based products. This technological breakthrough tackles the primary barriers to market penetration for new protein sources: taste, functionality, and cost, creating the most suitable protein for the plant-based industry.
As a result, Brevel said its proteins are in demand by food manufacturers for a wide variety of applications, and will enable the development of healthier, tastier and environmentally friendly non-animal food products.
The company is primarily targeting the dairy alternative sector, which faces a significant challenge in protein content. Other plant-based protein sources such as soy are allergenic and often have overpowering flavors, making them less efficient for use in plant-based milk and cheese products. In contrast, Brevel’s protein can be seamlessly incorporated, significantly boosting nutritional value and enhancing texture without compromising on taste, color, or cost.
Brevel is achieving cost parity with traditional plant-based protein sources such as pea and soy by utilizing its technology to generate valuable co-products alongside the high concentration of functional protein from microalgae such as functional lipids, pigments and more. This approach enables Brevel to attain almost triple the profitability from the same microalgae, making it feasible to price the protein competitively in the market.
Brevel said its process has a small environmental footprint and is unaffected by weather conditions, climate change and seasonal variations. It does not require arable land, can recycle 100% of the water, use on-site clean energy and feed the world with a fraction of the land used today for traditional agriculture. Brevel has been operating their large-scale 500 liter pilot in Israel and will very soon move into their first of commercial-scale factory with the first-of-its-kind 5,000 liter fermentation and light system. All of Brevel’s manufacturing systems have been designed and built by Brevel, as well as the development of all the biological processes.
“This substantial funding round will fuel Brevel’s journey forward and pave the way for Brevel Founder L-R Yonatan Golan CEO, Ido Golan CTO, Matan Golan, COOour vision of sustainable nutrition for the future of our planet to materialize,” said Yonatan Golan, CEO and co-founder of Brevel.
“We are primed and ready for our next major leap – the global scale production of Brevel’s protein that will be integrated into healthier, tastier and environmentally-friendly food products in every household.”
“We identified Brevel as an ambitious company with breakthrough technology which can provide significant impact. After the Horizon 2020 non-dilutive grant, the EIC Fund made the decision to further support and join Brevel with an equity investment in their journey towards a sustainable future.” said Svetoslava Georgieva, chair of the EIC Fund board.
Brevel’s seed funding totals $18.5 million, including $8.4 million converted from grants and convertible loans into shares.
About Brevel
Brevel provides alternative protein which is tasty, sustainable, functional and affordable.
They do this from microalgae in a unique proprietary technology which for the first time combines fermentation and light in industrial scale systems, thus creating a protein which is the most sustainable on earth, flavor and color neutral, highly functional, suitable to be incorporated into a large variety of food applications and for the first time at cost parity with traditional plant-based sources such as pea and soy.
The company is scaling its manufacturing capacity with the first-of-its-kind commercial factory in Israel and preparing for the construction of an additional much larger facility with a total capacity of 900,000L planned for 2025. Brevel is piloting with a variety of food manufacturers worldwide to develop plant based food applications with Brevel’s protein. The first products incorporating Brevel’s protein inside are expected to be on shelves during 2024. Brevel was founded by three brothers Yonatan (CEO), Matan (COO) and Ido (CTO) Golan.
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.
