Brevel, Ltd. has secured more than $5m in a seed extension up-round, bringing the total investment in the round to $25m.
The investment injection allows it to accelerate its go-to-market strategy and develop microalgae proteins for multiple food and beverage applications.
The current expansion is based on exercises of warrants the investors were granted in the initial closing of the seed round in June 2023. The warrants were fully at the discretion of the investors who decided to increase their stake in the company. NevaTeam Partners, Siddhi Capital, European Union’s EIC Fund, Good Protein Fund, The Food Tech Lab and PVS Investments are among the investors. In addition, the extension attracted multiple new investors who were granted access under the same terms.
“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 minimum by developing affordable, flavor-neutral flavoured 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.”
Brevel’s recently scaled up its technology to a commercial production volume of 5,000L, and secured a commercial and joint-development agreement with The Central Bottling Company (CBC Group).
The funding will accelerate Brevel’s commercial activities and allow the company to reach understandings with manufacturing JV partners for future production lines, alongside signing additional offtake agreements with customers in preparation for large-scale production.
Brevel’s technology for cultivating microalgae combines light with sugar-based fermentation in indoor bioreactors. The platform enables the production of nutrient-rich microalgae in large quantities, without the need for genetic modification.
Fermentation, traditionally limited to dark environments, produces microalgae at high yields and affordable costs, however, typically these are poor in light dependent nutrients, functionality, and overall commercial value. Brevel is the first company to unite the two processes and take fermentation out of the dark to produce nutrient-rich microalgae at high yields and low costs.
Brevel‘s process delivers a white, completely neutral-flavoured microalgae protein isolate powder. The powder can be integrated into a broad spectrum of meat and dairy alternatives as a functional ingredient.
Microalgae contain protein, lipids, fibres, and bioactive antioxidants derived from photosynthesis. Every component of the biomass is a vital part of Brevel’s portfolio and business plan.
“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.”
“While the fermentation process reduces costs, the light in our proprietary technology enables us to increase bottom-line results since we produce, in addition to the protein, functional oil with potent emulsifying properties, antioxidants as valuable food supplements, and nutritional fibres for food applications,” Golan said.
“Through this wide portfolio we can achieve overall price parity for our superior protein as well as for each co-product. We plan to roll-out the next products in line this summer.”
Yonatan Golan will pitch at the Investor Day on Climate event on April 2, part of the European Innovation Council Summit, on how Brevel is tackling climate change and food security with advanced technologies and products. The event will host 20 climate tech start-ups who are beneficiaries of the European Innovation Council Accelerator and leading European climate-tech investors.
