“Alternative proteins company NovoNutrients has secured a total of US$9 million to finish its industrial pilot project. The project is dedicated to capturing carbon emissions to develop high-quality animal-free proteins using naturally occurring microbes and industrial biotech.
Strong global backing
California-based NovoNutrients received US$4.7 funding from Hong Kong-based global venture firm, Happiness Capital which has previously backed plant-based meat pioneer Beyond Meat, Redefine Meat and Ynsect.
Several others participated in the funding round including E2JDJ and Marinya Capital along with re-ups from SOSV’s IndieBio and the Grantham Environmental Trust. Some of the company’s existing investors are Stanford Graduate School of Business Impact Fund, Purple Orange Ventures, and Joyance Partners.
The company further raised US$4.3 million through the support of ventures, and in non-dilutive, corporate project funding commitments.
In a statement, VP of Strategic Partnerships at NovoNutrients, Kumiko Yoshinari said: “Non-dilutive project funding from corporate partners, including a Catalyst Grant from Chevron Technology Ventures, is a critical accelerator. By building NovoNutrients facilities at commercial scale on the industrial sites where CO2 and hydrogen are generated, we will be able to trial the technology with new partners. We could enter joint ventures or license the technology, which we’ve already done. That allows us to scale without making heavy capital investments.”
Capture CO2 emissions to make futuristic foods
CEO of Happiness Capital, Eric Ng said: “NovoNutrients has taken major steps towards becoming one of the world’s biggest suppliers of innovative protein ingredients by 2030. The executive team has achieved tremendous support, not only from us but also from prior visionary investors, as well as project funding from powerful corporate partners.”
The company uses a fermentation process similar to the one that helps convert grapes into wine. Instead of grapes though, NovoNutrients takes naturally occurring microbes that live on CO2 and hydrogen to create protein flours. It claims that the ingredients are highly nutritious and the amino-acid profiles are better than soy ones.
The ingredients can be incorporated in plant-based foods as well as for animal feeds.
Ng added that the company is focussing on building a robust platform to make natural as well as synthetic biology products. “Beyond nutrition, we expect its platform to make other biobased chemicals and materials. Its tech is exceedingly cost effective and promising for addressing increasing global demand and greenhouse gas emissions.”
Industrial scale
At the moment, NovoNutrients plans to showcase its proprietary fermentation to manufacture high-value proteins at industrial levels…..”
View the whole story here: https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/novo-nutrients-co2-emissions-vegan-protein/