German fermentation startup Formo’s co-founder Roman Plewka and its team have received a hefty $61 million Series B round to scale production of their climate-friendly, animal-free cheese because they have a love of food, especially cheese. The startup is based in Berlin and their first products use Koji protein, a fungal microorganism commonly used in Asian cuisine for thousands of years. Formo claims to be the first to produce industrial quantities of dairy-free cheese using Koji.
The startup avoids using plant proteins and additives commonly found in vegan cheeses, which often result in poor imitations of real cheese. They use Koji proteins to create a unique and healthier alternative. Koji is a fungus, not a plant, and its proteins are grown through fermentation, making it a nutritious choice for food. Plewka mentioned that Forma’s non-dairy cheeses have similar protein content to conventional cheese.
Formo’s strategy involves using Koji as a starter protein to avoid lengthy approval processes for novel food by European regulators. They plan to venture into gene editing to produce more varieties of animal-free cheeses. Their first products may have slightly higher retail prices compared to dairy equivalents, but they aim to achieve price parity as they refine their technologies and expand production.
The startup has put a lot of effort into developing production platforms to create various types of cheeses, with feta-style and blue cheeses being the next products in the pipeline. They started selling their first products last week in Germany and Austria, focusing on sustainability and animal welfare benefits compared to traditionally produced cheese.
Formo envisions expanding to other European markets and beyond with the support of their recent funding. They believe they can reach net profitability soon and are optimistic about their future journey. Other precision fermentation startups are also working on non-animal based cheeses, showing a growing interest in transforming the dairy industry.
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