Novo Holdings has invested in Danish food-tech start-up Matr Foods, supporting the company in scaling up the production of its plant-based meat alternatives. The start-up transforms locally sourced organic ingredients like oats, split peas, lupins, beetroots, The new financing will enable Matr to scale up its production capacity to meet growing demand from new therefore very excited to have Novo Holdings joining us now to really accelerate the journey by scaling up

In 2025, we continued to see start-ups struggle to secure funding, with several in this space unable Time-Travelling Milkman raises €2m to support launch of Oleocream solution Dutch start-up Time-Travelling Green Spot Technologies secures €5m to scale ingredient production French start-up Green Spot Technologies Phytolon and Ginkgo Bioworks announce natural food colour production milestone In May, biotech start-ups Thai animal-free dairy start-up Muu celebrates funding milestone Muu, an animal-free dairy start-up based

Meatless Farm was also in the spotlight last summer as it entered administration after being unsuccessful

As the European Union (EU) prepares for a new political term, the spotlight is on Christophe Hansen, Encouraging food and beverage manufacturers to step up reformulation efforts for healthier, more sustainable The EU-funded Smart Protein Project, for example, indicates a shift in consumer behaviour, with many The trend towards plant-based diets, supported by the Smart Protein Project findings, suggests that consumers Hansen grew up on a farm, giving him firsthand experience of the agricultural sector.

German food-tech start-up Nosh.bio has announced a commercial partnership with European sausage producer It will leverage its extensive retailer network to introduce Koji Chunks to the market, starting in Germany The company operates from a former brewery, speeding up time to market and improving sustainability while Tim Fronzek, CEO and co-founder of Nosh.bio, said: “As a small start-up we will not be able to change

Start-ups cannot rely on venture capital to build the plants needed to scale production, and to reap Key stats from the 2024 Alternative Protein Report Total investment:  $509 million (€470 million) raised The report underscores the necessity for diverse funding mechanisms to support start-ups in scaling production Grosshans emphasised that start-ups cannot solely depend on venture capital to build the infrastructure in alternative protein innovation, with substantial government investments and a growing number of start-ups

Alt-dairy start-up Climax Foods has rebranded to Bettani Farms; has appointed former Califia Farms CFO Additionally, the start-up said its natural, farm-sourced ingredient can provide a more cost competitive Sanjeev Krishnan, managing partner at S2G, said: “As Bettani starts this new chapter, we believe it’s

British plant-based recipe kit start-up Grubby has expanded its partnership with vegan food brand Bosh The brand’s Veganuary line-up this year features 144 simple recipes spanning globally inspired cuisine Additionally, the High-Protein range contains up to 47g of protein per dish, all from whole food ingredients

Plant-based kimbap, courtesy of Korean start-up Unlimeat © Unlimeat Innovation in Korea’s alternative progress over the past year, with GFI currently working to establish GFI Korea, led by its South Korea start-up GFI’s South Korea start-up lead, La, commented: “South Korea is home to one of Asia’s most advanced tech

This would enable start-ups to request advice from regulators on the technical and scientific information adding clarity to the application process and preventing unnecessary authorisation delays by ensuring start-ups called on the Commission to build on plans to establish a pilot investment facility supporting the scale-up

ingredients – has selected PoLoPo for Generate, CSM Ingredient’s group’s innovation hub for ingredient start-ups offers R&D expertise, application opportunities, cutting-edge facilities and commercial support to its start-ups “Start-ups like PoLoPo are visionary innovators that play a pivotal role in developing concepts and pushing

Finnish biotech start-up Enifer has filed for Novel Food authorisation from the European Food Safety The start-up said this latest development represents a significant milestone in its mission to bring The site is expected to upcycle food industry side streams to produce up to 3,000 tons of fungi-based the data needed to demonstrate Pekilo’s safety for human consumption, and we’re looking forward to starting