NoPalm Ingredients, a Dutch biotechnology company producing yeast-derived oils, has successfully closed a €5 million seed funding round touted as the largest funding ever for an alternative to palm oil in Europe.
The round was led by Rubio Impact Ventures and co-led by Oost NL, Fairtree Elevant Ventures, and Willow Capital Investments, with participation from The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and other private investors.
“Often, the answer isn’t to prohibit a product but to step back and create a superior alternative that naturally compels a switch”
The new capital will help the company to scale and deliver, at price parity, a sustainable alternative to traditional palm oil, which is astonishingly found in 60% of supermarket products.
With proven oil quality by industry giants such as Colgate-Palmolive, Unilever, and Zeelandia, NoPalm Ingredients’ innovation, is set to transform the food and personal care industries.
“Often, the answer isn’t to prohibit a product but to step back and create a superior alternative that naturally compels a switch. This funding is pivotal for us to demonstrate large-scale production and solidify our role as a trusted partner in the food and personal care industries. We are on track for industrialization and commercialization in 2025,” CEO and co-founder Lars Langhout shared.
“World-class fermentation”
Founded in 2021 by Langhout and Professor Dr. Jeroen Hugenholtz in Wageningen, NoPalm Ingredients employs a unique fermentation process using non-GMO yeasts and low-capex technology to convert locally sourced agri-food sidestreams such as potato peels and whey permeate into oils and fats.
These alternatives are said to be a drop-in replacement, requiring no recipe reformulation at price parity, a feat possible due to the company’s cost-effective process, explains the biotech. Furthermore, its production delivers a 90% reduction in CO2 emissions and a 99% decrease in land use compared to traditional palm oil production.
Langhout told vegconomist in an interview earlier this year that the company has plans to scale its fermentation process to 50m3 to become profitable, as well as secure offtake agreements for its future demo factory.
“NoPalm Ingredients’ team combines world-class fermentation expertise, strategy and business experience with hands-on operations experience. You’ll rarely find such an experienced team with a clear execution track record,” Willem Heij from Willow Capital Investments commented.
Palm-free and sustainable oils
Meeting the growing demand for palm oil is unsustainable. As highlighted by Langhout, the global market for palm oil is increasing by 4% annually, requiring an additional 22 million tons by 2030, which would necessitate clearing rainforests 1.5 times the size of Ireland.
“Palm oil-driven land-use change threatens catastrophic loss of richly biodiverse equatorial rainforests”
Additionally, new EU regulations banning deforestation-related products mean that companies can only use sustainably certified palm oil, excluding 83% of current supplies, leading to price increases.
Other companies developing alternatives to agricultural-derived oils and fats include the UK-based biotech Clean Food Group, California’s Checkerspot, the Estonian startup ÄIO, and California’s Zero Acre Farms, among others.
Tijl Hoefnagels, partner at Rubio Impact Ventures, says, “Rubio is excited to back NoPalm Ingredients’ mission to enable palm-free and sustainable alternatives for billions of everyday supermarket products. Palm oil-driven land-use change threatens catastrophic loss of richly biodiverse equatorial rainforests and is responsible for more emissions every year than the entire airline industry.”
