Sustainable Nutrition Startup Protein Brewery Raises $20 Million
Food technology company Protein Brewery announced today that it has raised €18 million (USD$20.5 million) in an extension of its Series B funding round, led by new investor ABN AMRO Sustainable Impact Funds, bringing the company’s total funding raised to date to more than €70 million (USD$79.8 million).
Founded in 2020 as a spin-off from Dutch biotechnology company BioscienZ, Netherlands-based Protein Brewery develops fermentation-based protein ingredients through a scalable, zero-waste brewing process that converts sugar-rich streams into fungal biomass.
According to the company, its flagship ingredient, Fermotein, is an alternative to animal-based proteins, combining complete nutrition with a significantly lower environmental footprint, and helping meet the growing global demand for healthy and sustainable protein.
The company said that the new funding comes at a time when 25% of global land is used for animal feed, and 40% of agricultural water is spent growing feed instead of food for people – a model is inefficient, resource-intensive, and fundamentally unsustainable.
Compared to traditional plant-based ingredients and milk, Fermotein uses 5 to 30 times less water and 5 to 20 times less land per kilogram of protein, which translates into significant environmental benefits, the company added.
The company said the new investment will support the next phase of its growth strategy, including scaling production capacity, expanding commercial activities across Europe following EU Novel Food authorization, and advancing scientific research related to Fermotein.
According to Protein Brewery, proceeds from the new financing will be used to increase production capacity to more than 2,000 metric tons through investments and operational expansion at the company’s Mijkenbroek facility, accelerate European commercialization focused on active nutrition and functional food and beverage applications, advance clinical research into the potential longevity-related benefits of Fermotein, and support regulatory approval efforts in new markets including Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India.
Thijs Bosch, CEO of The Protein Brewery, said:
“With this additional funding, we move from proving that whole-food mycelium is a desirable ingredient to delivering it at the scale that brands and manufacturers need. Fermotein meets the challenge of feeding a growing and ageing population with fewer environmental resources.”
The new funding round also attracted commitments from existing investors Invest-NL, Novo Holdings, Madeli, and the Brabant Development Agency (BOM).
Ugur Yuksel, Investment Manager at ABN AMRO Sustainable Impact Fund, said:
“The Protein Brewery has successfully translated strong scientific foundations into a robust industrial-scale production process and a growing commercial business, exactly the profile we look for in companies that can deliver measurable environmental impact at scale.”