Hamburg’s MicroHarvest reaps in €8.5 million to build protein production system

Addressing the pressing need for sustainable alternatives to meet the growing global protein, demand Hamburg-based biotech startup MicroHarvest has raised €8.5 million in funding. The new capital will allow the startup to bring their single cell protein production process to commercialisation.

The Series A round was led by Astanor Ventures and Happiness Capital and backed by Faber and existing investor FoodLabs. The platform will use the fresh funding to grow its R&D team, construct a pilot plant in Lisbon and accelerate towards commercial-scale production.

The German startup is tackling the growing demand for alternative protein ingredients for human food, a $14 billion market. It aims to provide better, healthier and tastier protein, produced sustainably using the power of microorganisms. With their production system for single cell protein, they address the pressing need for sustainable alternatives to meet the growing global protein demand.

The company claims its proprietary technology enables the production of protein using bacteria at a speed and efficiency that greatly exceeds existing approaches. Being able to ramp up production quickly is key to becoming a relevant player in the B2B ingredients market. It enables decentralised production of sustainable, nutritious, high-quality and safe protein.

Katelijne Bekers, co-founder and CEO of MicroHarvest said: “We have a strong shared vision for creating impact to our food systems, using the power of nature. We aim to deliver impact at scale, bringing the faster protein production system to commercialisation.”

Arnout Dijkhuizen, investment principal at Astanor Ventures added: “The technology enables highly localised protein production, a key element to achieving food independence as agrifood supply chains are facing increasing stress on a global scale.”

Eric Ng, CEO of Happiness Capital concluded: “As various aspects of our food supply face many challenges today, we see a critical need for new ways to produce nutritious protein in a sustainable way. Right from the start, we have been deeply impressed by MicroHarvest’s technology and their streamlined path to production.”