In this podcast series, co-produced by vegconomist, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.
Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies.
Episode 12: Enifer: Simo Ellilä of Enifer
In this episode, Alex talks to Simo Ellilä, CEO and co-founder of Enifer, a biotech startup in Finland that produces sustainable microprotein through the fermentation of industrial byproducts. Simon discusses the strategic approach Enifer took to raise their current rounds and a few key strategies that helped them secure funds from grants. He also highlights the need to demonstrate progress on the industrial facility and meet critical milestones to maintain investor confidence.
Key Facts Enifer:
- Goal: to transform circular economy by-products into planet-friendly protein.
- Recently closed a significant funding round with €15 million in equity, €9 million in loans, and over €12 million in government grants.
Link to Spotify:
Alex’s Top Findings:
- Proactive Preparation Pays Off: Enifer’s readiness was the result of anticipating funding opportunities and preparing well in advance. Startups should be proactive by having key documents and a data room ready, even if a grant isn’t immediately on the horizon. A well-organized data room, with clear blueprints, CapEx estimates, and historical data on the production process, was essential to securing both government funding and investor confidence.
- Key Elements of Letters of Intent: Many grants require proof that the rest of the project’s financing is either secured or on the way. Detailed and credible letters of intent from investors and potential buyers played a critical role in securing funding. These letters included specifics about investment amounts, project descriptions, and expected returns, increasing their persuasiveness.
- Develop a Convincing Business Case: It’s critical to show that your project isn’t just theoretical or experimental but has clear commercial viability. Enifer succeeded in part by demonstrating that their factory would be an industrial-scale production facility capable of generating significant revenue. Startups should focus on showing how the project will generate returns, mitigate risks, and align with government or institutional funding goals, especially in sustainability and innovation.
- Engage Early and Stay Updated on Opportunities: Building relationships with government agencies, grant organizations, and other funding bodies ahead of time can give startups a head start. Staying informed on upcoming grant calls and funding programs—especially those tied to broader economic or sustainability goals—enables startups to align their project timelines with available funding windows.
- Clear and Realistic Milestones: When applying for grants or presenting to investors, it’s crucial to break down the project into clear, achievable milestones. Enifer provided detailed CapEx and OPEX estimates alongside a phased timeline for their production ramp-up. This clarity helped mitigate perceived risks and gave confidence to the grant evaluators. Startups should aim to present similarly structured milestones and cost breakdowns, which demonstrate thorough planning and feasibility.
The link to the full series is here.
