An Israeli food tech startup has secured $9m to establish a molecular farming facility to produce casein proteins inside sprouted oats.
Plantopia will use the money to help it move from research and development into the commercial production of plant-based dairy proteins.
It said the funding will help the launch of a manufacturing facility in Israel expected to begin operations later this year.
The funding was led by dairy producer Schreiber Foods and venture capitalists Siddhi Capital, with further participation from Tara Dairy, Yotvata and Tempo. It brings the startup’s total amount raised to $16m.
Plantopia was founded in 2019 by Alexander Vainstein, Tal Lutzky and Amir Tiroler, and is built on technology developed at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
From plant cells to milk?
The technology involves modifying plant cells to allow them to express animal proteins inside the crop. These can then be harvested for use in food.
Plantopia is growing casein, the main group of proteins found in dairy and it is these which make cheeses melt, stretch, bubble and brown. Plantopia estimates the casein market is worth approximately $50bn in North America alone.
The company is growing all four casein proteins in sprouted oats, which it plans to sell to food manufacturers to produce animal-free dairy alternatives like mozzarella.
The company said its approach differs from fermentation-based technologies which require specialized production facilities and significant capital investment.
Cowless dairy at a lower price
It claims to have achieved “complete equivalency” to conventional casein, matched dairy functionality on coagulation, and believes it can sell the ingredient for less than $20 per kg, which it says is on par with cow-derived casein.
“Plantopia’s technological achievement is the holy grail of dairy proteins – proteins that are identical in composition to those found in cow’s milk,” said Lutzky, the company’s CEO.
“Having completed the development stages that have been our focus in recent years, we are now moving into commercial production.”
Plantopia is not the only company using molecular farming to grow casein. In Israel, Finally Foods and PoLoPo are making it with potatoes proteins, while NewMoo is using soybeans.
In the US, Alpine Bio and Mozza Foods are trying the same thing, as is Miruku in New Zealand.
