Israeli startup Imagindairy, which is creating animal-free milk proteins utilizing fermentation expertise, has introduced that it has raised $15 million in an prolonged seed spherical, bringing the full quantity raised within the spherical to $28 million after the corporate raised $13 million final November. Imagindairy started within the laboratory of Prof. Tamir Tuller and Dr. Eyal Afergan at Tel Aviv College, with the goal of cultivating microorganisms and utilizing them to provide a brand new milk equivalent in style, colour, and consistency to cow’s milk, with out environmental harm or destructive well being values. The final word goal is that the corporate’s merchandise can be used within the dairy trade as a substitute for animal proteins.
The present spherical was led by Goal International, with participation by the corporate’s present buyers Strauss Group, Emerald Expertise Ventures, Inexperienced Circle Foodtech Ventures, Collaborative Fund, New Local weather Ventures, and FoodSparks by PeakBridge. The corporate says that the capital raised “can be used to speed up the corporate’s R&D efforts to launch a variety of actual dairy merchandise with out utilizing animals. It additionally will assist appeal to extra expertise to its increasing workforce.” It provides that it’s working intensively with meals producers on the event of latest merchandise.
The corporate is at the moment on the stage of ramping up its manufacturing capability, and it plans to launch a primary product in 2023. Afergan says that the present funding will assist the corporate try in the direction of manufacturing on a industrial scale and “utterly change the present guidelines of the sport, during which the worldwide dairy trade, which turns over tons of of billions of {dollars} a 12 months, is accountable for large environmental harm to planet earth. Our answer opens up a brand new world of prospects primarily based on extremely useful, prime quality protein.”
The milk options market has been rising steadily in recent times, and turns over NIS 426 million a 12 months in Israel, accounting for 16% of the milk market. The milk options market is led by Tnuva, with a 57% market share.
Strauss Group’s funding in Imagindairy is a part of its effort to grow to be stronger within the milk options space. Final 12 months, it introduced that it might construct a manufacturing facility at Ahihud within the Western Galilee to provide milk options of European big Alpro, whose merchandise Strauss sells in Israel.
Imagindairy is specializing in uncooked supplies for the non-animal primarily based cheese trade, which up to now has not developed as a lot as milk options. An analogous Israeli startup on this area is Remilk, which just lately raised $120 million and plans to open a manufacturing facility in Denmark to provide milk proteins. There’s additionally a US startup referred to as Excellent Day, the one one on the planet that has up to now succeeded in penetrating the markets with milk protein options produced by fermentation. Israel is taken into account a world chief in fermentation. Based on analysis institute GFI, startups on this area in Israel raised more cash in 2022 than in another nation other than the US.
Printed by Globes, Israel enterprise information – en.globes.co.il – on Could 19, 2022.
© Copyright of Globes Writer Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2022.
