Solar Foods wins €77.8M funding package for Factory 02 expansion

Solar Foods has secured €77.8 million in grant and loan financing to support the construction and commissioning of Factory 02. The funding package comprises a €39.6 million grant and a €38.1 million R&D loan, awarded under the company's participation in the Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) programme, which was approved by the European Commission.

Solar Foods has developed a proprietary microbe that feeds on carbon dioxide (CO²) and hydrogen to grow a high-protein food ingredient called Solein. 

Detaching food from agriculture, Solein can be grown anywhere, taking just 0.1 per cent of the land and 1 per cent of the water that a similar amount of beef would.

Solein is a nutrient-rich and versatile ingredient that can replace protein in virtually any food. Solein can also be used as a fortifier to complement the nutritional profile of various foods: it can be a source of iron, fibre and B vitamins, and it can also bring different techno-functionalities into food products.

“We are pleased with Business Finland’s funding decision. Solar Foods has executed its financing plan, communicated in October last year, with determination, and this funding decision is a significant part of the total financing in line with the company’s strategy”, says Rami Jokela, CEO of Solar Foods.

According to Lassi Noponen, Director General of Business Finland:

“Our role is to raise the level of ambition in Finnish R&D by sharing risk with companies pursuing transformative innovations.

Projects like this carry risks, but they are exactly the kind of high-ambition, high-expertise investments Finland needs to create entirely new industries and future growth.”

Earlier this month, Solar Foods also announced that it had received an order for Solein from an unnamed US-based lifestyle company. The order will be used for product development, with the partner planning to launch consumer products containing Solein in the United States.

The grant will be used for the implementation and ramp-up of Factory 02 in co-operation with strategic partners, as well as Solein’s large-scale commercialisation and the development of scalable business solutions and the expertise generated in the project.

The loan is intended to be used to upscale and optimise Solein’s production process at Factory 02 and to achieve the targeted productivity, energy efficiency, and optimal product characteristics.