Computational biology company Evogene and food-tech incubator and investment arm of Israel’s Strauss Group, The Kitchen FoodTech Hub (TKH), have jointly announced the establishment of Finally Foods.

Finally Foods is an AI-driven company specialising in molecular farming for the food sector, committed to providing sustainable alternative sources to animal-based proteins.

The newly founded company’s mission is to modify plants as ‘bioreactors’ to produce proteins efficiently and sustainably. Leveraging Evogene’s ‘GeneRator AI’ technology, the new company aims for short R&D cycles and rapid time-to-market. Its first target will be animal-free casein, a protein traditionally found in dairy and responsible for many of the familiar qualities of cheese.

Finally Foods has secured pre-seed funding from TKH and the Israeli Innovation Authority. Evogene holds a 40% stake in the company, with the remaining ownership divided among TKH and the founding team – CEO Dafna Gabbay and CTO Basia Vinocur.

Ofer Haviv, president and CEO of Evogene, said: “We are thrilled to embark on this new segment, marking a milestone for Evogene as we continue to drive innovation and growth in the Life Science industry. By harnessing the power of our GeneRator AI tech-engine, molecular farming has the potential to revolutionise the food industry and promote healthier diets worldwide.”

Amir Zaidman, chief business officer of The Kitchen FoodTech Hub, commented: “Finally Foods is one of the rare cases where we see an extremely strong founding team, in Gabbay and Vinocur, coupled with a proven technology platform based on the leading AI engine of Evogene. Establishing the company under the framework of TKH and investing the pre-seed round was an easy decision in this case.”

Co-founder Gabbay added: “I believe that with Evogene’s cutting edge technology, TKH’s leading position in the FoodTech industry and with Vinocur’s vast experience – Finally Foods has full potential to emerge as a promising company in the alternative proteins sector.

Molecular farming represents a catalyst towards global food security and a more sustainable future, and I am proud to lead Finally Foods to take an important part towards supporting this crucial vision for the world.”

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