Finland’s eniferBio blooms €11 million to ramp up fungal protein production

Finland’s eniferBio has raised €11 million in a Series A funding round aimed at helping the company scale the production of its fermentation-process-derived protein powders.

The €11 million Series A round was led Aqua-Spark, with new investors Tesi and Valio participating alongside existing investors Voima Ventures and Nordic Foodtech VC. To date, eniferBio has raised €12 million.

Somewhat similar to Brussel’s Paleo, eniferBio is producing a protein powder that’s harvested through a special fermentation process. eniferBio’s process differs in that the method it’s using was originally developed by forestry industry scientists in the 1960s in Finland to produce cost-efficient animal feed protein from side streams of the pulp and paper industry.

Building upon these early innovations, eniferBio’s product offers up to 70% protein, 20–30% of good-quality fiber, about 10% of fats and minerals, and a high concentration of vitamin B.

“We have a product that turns today's waste into a high-value ingredient. We can provide the world’s most competitive protein production process and a product that has been tested on an industrial scale for over 15 years. We are now ready for the next phase of scaling our production and product use cases,” said eniferBio CEO and co-founder Simo Ellilä.

According to the company they already have partnerships in place with Skretting, the global aquafeed division of Nutreco, Purina for pet food, and Valio for consumer food products.