• De Novo Foodlabs

  Led · Seed · Aug 2024

  De Novo Foodlabs develops NanoFerrin™, a precision‑fermented lactoferrin intended to replace traditionally milk‑derived lactoferrin in food, beverage, and supplement products. The company says its NanoFerrin™ delivers the functional benefits of lactoferrin while achieving 99.9% lower emissions, land use, and water consumption versus conventional production in an independent life‑cycle assessment. De Novo highlights lactoferrin’s roles in infant development, immunity, brain health, and iron absorption and positions NanoFerrin™ as a more scalable, cost‑effective source (traditional lactoferrin can cost up to $1,500/kg). The global lactoferrin market was valued at $772 million in 2023 and is projected to exceed $3 billion by 2033, underpinning De Novo’s commercial opportunity. Founded in 2021, the company lists founders and leadership including CEO Jean Louwrens and CSO Leah Bessa. With new capital, De Novo plans to scale production from kilograms to tonnes to meet rising demand while continuing to commercialize NanoFerrin™. De Novo Dairy is a South Africa–based company developing precision fermentation technologies to create alternative dairy proteins, with a specific focus on lactoferrin. The company aims to reproduce the nutritional profiles and sensory experiences of dairy analogs. Its work centers on producing high-value proteins and ingredients via microorganisms for the dairy sector. De Novo Dairy positions these technologies as complementary to traditional dairy, supporting more sustainable, efficient mixed-production models. The startup was one of four companies in Mylkcubator, the incubator run by Pascual Innoventures and Eatable Adventures. Pascual Innoventures has indicated it will explore lactoferrin production in collaboration with De Novo Dairy. De Novo Dairy specializes in producing milk proteins through precision fermentation of uniquely designed yeast strains to generate animal-free, nature-identical dairy proteins. Their proteins aim to replicate mammalian immuno-proteins in both function and nutrition and can be used across food, health, sports nutrition, and baby-formula markets. The company emphasizes sustainability benefits of precision fermentation, including reduced energy use, lower emissions, and elimination of animal-welfare concerns. De Novo Dairy positions its products as premium, cruelty-free alternatives intended to improve access to scarce, hard-to-obtain nutritional proteins. The company has received investment and is participating in UM6P Ventures’ Venture Builder program to accelerate R&D and scale-up efforts. Leadership includes CEO & Co‑Founder Jean Louwrens, and the company is engaging in preparations for expansion activity in North Carolina. De Novo Dairy, founded in 2021, focuses on precision fermentation to produce nutritious dairy substitutes including ice cream, creamy yoghurt and stretchy, melty cheeses that replicate animal-derived taste and texture. The company plans to bring these products to the South African market and to help form the third pillar of cellular agriculture innovation on the African continent alongside firms such as Mzansi Meat and Mogale Meat. The article positions De Novo Dairy within a broader surge in fermentation investment and interest since 2019 and especially in 2021. Financially, De Novo Dairy this week received an early-stage investment from CULT Food Science Corp; the article does not disclose the amount or the financing instrument. Leadership frames the capital as accelerating their mission to improve human nutrition while removing animals from the food chain.

• Adamo Foods

  Led · Seed · Aug 2024

  Adamo Foods develops whole-cut mycelium-based meat alternatives using a triple-patented submerged fungal fermentation process to create long, densely grouped mycelium fibres that mimic muscle structure. Its flagship product is a five-ingredient mycelium steak that the company says contains all essential amino acids and achieves a protein digestibility score of 0.99. The startup highlights rapid production (mycelium doubles every ~4 hours), lower land use and substantially reduced emissions—claiming its product is 93% lower in carbon emissions than beef—and aims for price parity at launch. Adamo is scaling from in-house pilot production to a demo plant (>5,000 litres) and targets 50,000 litres within three years, while engaging partners for commercial manufacturing. Founded in 2021, the company has raised about €5M from investors and participated in EIT Food’s RisingFoodStars programme, and plans an initial commercial rollout in UK foodservice.

• Maia Farms

  Led · Seed · May 2024

  Maia Farms is a Vancouver-based food-tech company that engineers mushroom and mycelium ingredients through liquid-state fermentation, extrusion processing, and a proprietary "fungal intelligence" platform. Its products target food manufacturers that want sustainable, nutrient-dense alternatives to conventional animal or plant proteins. The startup already collaborates with more than 70 global service companies and maintains an impact partnership with The Greater Vancouver Food Bank. With a focus on scaling, Maia plans to accelerate commercial production, broaden its ingredient portfolio, and deepen partnerships across the food industry. The firm will also expand its fermentation and extrusion capacity to meet anticipated demand. Including non-dilutive capital, the company has secured more than $6.5 million in funding to date, underscoring strong early investor and grant support for its technology and mission.

• Jellatech

  Participated · Seed · Sep 2023

  Jellatech, founded in 2020 by Stephanie Michelsen, develops cultivated collagen and gelatin via cellular agriculture with applications across food, personal care, biomedicine and materials. The company has demonstrated the ability to create both bovine and human collagen and is building a broader protein portfolio focused on proteins uniquely found in animals and humans. Jellatech plans to commercialize and scale production, prioritizing smaller, cost-effective use cases to begin generating revenue while pursuing larger market opportunities. The team views beauty and biomedical customers as attractive early markets with different regulatory pathways and diverse distribution channels. Management is focused on improving cost, efficiency and speed of production as it expands species and protein offerings. The startup raised capital to support these commercialization and scale efforts and remains agile across industries and applications. Jellatech, founded in 2020 by Stephanie Michelsen, positions itself as the world’s first cell-based collagen and gelatin ingredient company. The firm leverages a proprietary cellular agriculture process to manufacture sustainable, high-quality animal-free substitutes for collagen and gelatin. Its core product targets food applications and the company is also exploring uses in cosmetics, personal care and medication. Jellatech closed a $2 million pre-seed fundraise in April and counts Ryan Bethencourt’s Sustainable Food Ventures as a prominent investor. The company recently completed a strategic investment from CULT Food Science Corp. and plans to scale, pursue commercialization globally, and explore scientific synergies with CULT’s teams. Jellatech develops real collagen and gelatin via cellular agriculture rather than isolating them from meat-industry byproducts. Its products are biologically identical to native collagen, addressing functionality limitations of current animal-free and plant-based alternatives. The company targets applications across skincare and cosmetics, medical and pharmaceutical uses, and food & beverage. Jellatech reports several inquiries from potential customers and partners and will ship early samples by the end of the month. The startup says the new funding will accelerate product development and distribution of initial collagen samples. Stephanie Michelsen is co-founder and CEO.

• NS/TX Industries

  Participated · Seed · Feb 2023

  NS/TX Industries (doing business as NEW/SCHOOL FOODS) operates a vertically integrated manufacturing platform built around a proprietary, tuneable scaffolding and texturization technology for meat and seafood analogues. The platform supports production of whole-cut formats (steaks, filets), non whole-cut formats (burgers, strips), and a wide range of species analogues with tuneable texture, flavor delivery systems, and cleaner-label nutrition. The company operates a 28,000 sq. ft. facility in Toronto and launched a V1 commercial assembly line in late 2024, achieving more than a 10x reduction in production costs through extensive trials, equipment upgrades, digital QA, and process breakthroughs. Those developments generated new patents and proprietary equipment designs. NS/TX provides production, R&D, and co-manufacturing services and delivers consumer- and restaurant-facing products via its NEW/SCHOOL FOODS brand. The company has raised over $30 million USD in private and government funding and is now scaling via construction of an automated V2 Assembly Line to increase capacity by over 10x and further lower costs.

No current team members are available.