Round heats up alternative protein segment as foodtech to use resources to scale its production in new factory
Foodtech Enough, which develops alternative proteins from mushrooms and fungi, has raised a round of 40 million euros (about $43.5 million), in a fund-led round World Fund AND CPT Capitala management company that was an early investor in Beyond meat.
According to information from Reuters, the round will serve to accelerate the pace of growth of the foodtech, increasing its market presence in its home continent and doubling the production capacity of its manufacturing unit in the Netherlands.
“A Enough has made great strides over the last few years to launch our new factory in the Netherlands and expand to work with clients across the UK and Europe,” CEO Jim Laird said in a press release.
The company’s proprietary technology supplies sugars from renewable raw materials to mushrooms and then ferments them similar to how beer is brewed. The result is the production of a mycoprotein called Abunda, which the company says has a neutral flavor, meaty texture, and is high in protein and fiber. This protein can then be used to make plant-based meat, fish and dairy substitutes.
Before building the factory in Holland, Enough produced small batches. Now that it’s online, the company is growing, initially producing over a ton of Abunda every hour and around 10,000 tonnes annually.
“We expect demand to start exceeding our capacity in the second half of 2024, so we are starting the installation of a second (production) line,” Laird said. Future plans include expanding to more than 60,000 tons a year from 2024, which Laird says would be the equivalent of growing a cow of protein every two minutes. The company expects to reach over one million tons, cumulatively, by 2032.
she is not alone
With the round, the Enough join international mushroom-focused food technology companies such as Meats Foods AND Fairytale foods, to attract the attention of funds. In total, the foodtech has already raised more than 95 million euros ($103 million).
However, technologies are also being developed in Brazil to develop alternative proteins from mushrooms. The Brazilian Typcal is exploring this path, with products called “mush based”, based on mycelium, a protein extracted from the fermentation of mycelium biomass, i.e. the basis of an edible mushroom/mushroom, the result of about 2 years of research at the inside of food technology.
Until now, the typical has already raised R$4 million in seed rounds – for next year, the plan is to aim high, seeking funding of R$30 to 40 million, with plans to build a new factory and ramp up production, something like this who is doing the Enough.
According to the co-founder and CEO of the company, Paulo Ibri, the contribution received from Enough is very important for the development of the alternative protein segment, showing that the mushroom protein market has huge potential.
“We are dealing with a completely new segment to the market, but with much lower scale barriers and regulatory challenges. typical it is also developing a mycelium protein with a focus on the B2B market, using a patented technology. We want to work with the big food industry to make this incredible ingredient available to everyone as quickly as possible and on a large scale,” stresses the executive.
Source: Terra
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