Alt Dairy, Alt Meat and Alt Fish are hot trends in the food tech industry. Plus they help farmers produce more protein. Vegans are pushing for the conversion to non-animal sources of milk, meat and fish, and the planet needs it badly too. Animal byproducts are causing climate change.
Maybe because Israel has the highest number of vegans in the world per capita or maybe because the Jewish Kosher food business has always pushed food additives from alternative non-pork or not-dairy sources to follow Jewish Dietary Laws, but Israel is seeing a disproportionately high number of Alt Meat and Alt Dairy companies ranging from cricket burgers to steak grown in a lab from real cow cells.
FoodTech startup Imagindairy, developer of animal-free milk proteins, or in simpler words – milk made in a lab – secured an additional $15M USD in its extended seed-round. The initial round in November 2021 brought in USD13M. This brings the total investment capital to USD28M, making it one of the highest-earning seed rounds in the alternative protein space.
The funding was led by Target Global and joined by the company’s existing investors Strauss Group (which just suffered, Emerald Technology Ventures, Green Circle Foodtech Ventures, Collaborative Fund, New Climate Ventures, and FoodSparks® by PeakBridge, demonstrating a robust commitment to the company’s future progress.
In its mission to provide consumers sustainable, better-for-you, guilt-free dairy solutions, the alt-protein innovators found a way to create animal-free milk proteins from microorganisms via proprietary precision-fermentation technology. The technology allows the production of a broad spectrum of dairy analogs, from raw milk to cheese, without involving animals.
Imagindairy’s dairy proteins are non-GMO, cholesterol-free, and possess the same flavor, texture, functionality, and nutritional value of their cow-based counterparts. Most importantly, they eliminate the burden that livestock imposes on the environment.
Imagindairy’s proprietary platform significantly amplifies protein expression, enabling exceptionally cost-effective production of animal-free milk proteins. This overcomes one of the biggest hurdles in alt-dairy protein production, allowing brands to sell analog dairy products at consumer-friendly prices—a major requirement for mass-market adoption.
The funds raised in this seed round will be used to accelerate the company’s R&D efforts to launch a range of real dairy products without using animals. It also will help attract additional talent to its expanding workforce. Imagindairy is currently in dialogue with major dairy food producers seeking to diversify their product portfolios.
Farmers growing feed for the animal industry? Don’t worry. You will be growing more protein if you switch to growing food for us humans to eat.
Author: Karin Kloosterman
Karin Kloosterman is an award-winning journalist and publisher that founded Green Prophet to unite a prosperous Middle East. She shows through her work that positive, inspiring dialogue creates action that impacts people, business and planet. She has published in thought-leading newspapers and magazines globally, owns an IoT tech chip patent, and is part of teams that build world-changing products to make agriculture and our planet more sustainable. Reach out directly to [email protected]
