Spanish plant-based start-up Heura Foods has secured a €20 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to support the development of sustainable and healthy alt-protein products.
Headquartered in Barcelona, Heura recently announced plans to expand its range beyond meat alternatives and into several other plant-based food categories, aiming to deliver healthier and cleaner label variants of popular ‘ultra-processed foods’ (UPFs).
The company’s focus is on improving food composition by replacing saturated fat and cholesterol with ingredients rich in fibre and antioxidants, while ensuring a high protein content.
Heura’s co-founder and CEO, Marc Coloma, said the start-up’s goal is to “democratise food that is tasty, nutritious and aligned with today’s challenges”.
With the support of the EIB loan, Heura’s RD&I programme plans to develop new alternatives to meat, cheese and other animal products, as well as products with a higher share of protein than those currently available in retail. It will use legume-based proteins and healthy fats to create new innovations that focus on high nutritional density, positive climate impact and enhanced taste and texture.
Additionally, the EIB loan will enable Heura to scale up its production capacity by financing investments in the necessary equipment. Scaling up will take place both in Heura’s laboratories and at its co-manufacturers’ facilities in Spain.
Alessandro Izzo, EIB’s director of equity, growth capital and project finance, said: “This financing agreement with Heura is a clear example of how the EIB is stepping up its support for companies that are at the forefront of the bioeconomy, driving innovation and sustainability across the entire value chain”.
“By investing in the development of new plant-based foods products, the EIB is also contributing to a healthier, more sustainable food system in Europe and to the overall food security of the European Union.”
Heura recently launched a new Tex Mex Chunks product, one of several new clean label, additive-free NPDs slated for launch by the brand this year. Last month, the company teamed up with French start-up Swap (formerly Umiami) to roll out a clean label plant-based chicken fillet in France, Spain and Portugal.
