European foodtech startups raised $6.3bn in 2022 — down from 2021’s $10.9bn however up from 2020’s $3.2bn.
New improvements are serving to the sector decide up momentum. On Startup Europe — The Sifted Podcast, we chatted to a few hungry founders.
Proteins made out of CO2
In Austria, biotech Arkeon is utilizing microbes that feed on CO2 as an alternative of sugar to transform the gasoline into proteins. The place was it discovered? A volcano.
“As a substitute of consuming sugar, they’re feeding on carbon dioxide and that’s the one nutrient supply they really have to convert one thing like gasoline into meals substances, so it’s a reasonably loopy organism,” stated Dr Gregor Tegl, cofounder and CEO of Arkeon. “Typically it’s important to discover and search someplace the place you wouldn’t count on cool issues to occur — in that case on the underside of volcanoes.”
Tegl stated Arkeon is collaborating with corporates and different startups specializing in cheese, various milks, various eggs and drinks. Final December, it raised further seed funding, bringing its whole to greater than €10m.
“What’s subsequent? It’s all about scaling,” he stated. “We’re constructing out our demo facility. We’re scoping for a industrial scale facility and it’s all about rising and dropping the unit price of our merchandise.”
Inexpensive plant-based fish
Impressed by Inconceivable Meals within the US, Berlin-based Extraordinary Seafood is producing plant-based salmon, tuna and shrimp. The distinction? It is striving to make it as reasonably priced as actual fish.
“We’re already price aggressive, so we’re going for parity,” stated Dr Anton Pluschke, the startup’s founder. “I would like this to be for peculiar individuals, I don’t need this to only be for those who can afford it.”
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Pluschke stated one of many largest hurdles is totally different cultures and their view on contemporary fish.
“We began in Germany as a result of the fish tradition isn’t inherent, broadly talking from a nationwide perspective, not core to their id,” he stated. “In Switzerland, Austria, that’s related. The UK is considerably related as effectively, totally different to doubtlessly Japan or France the place the provenance of the meals is way extra essential within the tradition and so there’s a little bit of a barrier to entry there.”
Legume chocolate
London-based various ingredient startup WNWN Meals Labs’ first product is chocolate with none cacao. In February, the startup closed a $5.5m seed spherical.
“Why are we doing such a factor?,” stated Ahrum Pak, its CEO. “The world’s cocoa provide and the best way it’s produced proper now really means large quantities of deforestation, enormous carbon emissions and sadly nonetheless makes use of youngster and slave labour.”
In line with Pak, WNWN’s chocolate will hit the broader mass market later this yr. Whereas she stated she will’t reveal an excessive amount of about the way it’s produced, she stated it makes use of related gear to conventional chocolate.
“We give attention to utilizing cereals and legumes as a result of they’re much extra ample and environment friendly,” she stated. “We do use the facility of fermentation to create our chocolate, however we use a variety of the identical chocolate making gear as different industries.”
On this episode of Startup Europe — The Sifted Podcast, we additionally chatted about:
