Led · Equity · Jun 2022

Deep Branch develops CO2-to-protein technology to produce a single-cell protein ingredient called Proton for animal feed. The company received a £4.8 million grant from the UK government’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Net Zero Innovation Portfolio to fund the Deep Blue C project. Deep Blue C will integrate carbon capture and low-carbon hydrogen ecosystems and deliver a feasibility study for Deep Branch’s first commercial Proton production unit. Deep Branch completed an €8 million Series A last year. Proton is planned to go live in 2027, and the platform intends to roll out multiple production facilities targeting 600,000 tonnes per annum global capacity by 2030, utilising over one million tonnes of CO2 annually. The company positions Proton as a price-stable, price-competitive, nutritionally optimal bulk feed ingredient to improve sustainability in animal farming. Deep Branch is a British startup that converts CO2 into a bulk animal-feed protein ingredient called Proton, aimed at reducing emissions from livestock production. Proton is positioned as an environmentally friendlier, price-competitive and nutritionally suitable feed protein. The company’s technology is described as a scalable CO2-to-protein route that can supply stable, bulk protein for feed markets. The Series A financing will fund completion of a Scale-Up Hub at Brightlands Chemelot Campus to produce pilot-scale Proton batches for full nutritional validation with major European feed producers including BioMar and AB Agri, and to advance engineering design for a first commercial facility. Deep Branch previously secured about €4 million in non-dilutive, grant-backed financing scheduled between Q4 2020 and Q1 2023, and the new Series A totals €8 million. Management says it aims for commercial production by 2023, is mapping locations for its first plant (flagging Norway for its salmon industry and low-carbon hydrogen), and plans to expand its CO2-based product line into new markets.