Big Idea Ventures

Big Idea Ventures (BIV) launches Nexture Bio, Inc., a new player in biomaterial technologies developing scaffoldings to create whole-cut cultivated products.

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Cultivated Meat

Nexture Bio Enters US Market to Pioneer Scaffoldings for Cultivated Whole-Cuts

Big Idea Ventures (BIV) announces the launch of Nexture Bio, Inc., a new biomaterial company developing novel scaffoldings for whole-cut products and other technologies to support the cultivated meat industry. Nexture Bio is the third company launched by BIV’s Generation Food Rural Partners Fund (GFRP), an RBIC-licensed investment fund that collaborates with universities across the US to commercialize intellectual property innovations in food, protein, and agriculture. Its focus is to create new companies to provide growth capital to small businesses in rural areas of the country. GFRP’s new biomaterials company will use intellectual property licensed from various universities to develop solutions to enhance the taste and texture of cultivated meat products.  “Our fund’s mandate is to create companies that provide solutions to the most challenging areas in Food and Agriculture. …

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Startups, Accelerators & Incubators

Big Idea Ventures Announces First New Protein Fund II Investments

Alt protein venture capital firm Big Idea Ventures has announced the first investments made as part of its New Protein Fund II. Ten early-stage startups have been chosen to receive pre-seed funding through the firm’s biannual accelerator program in New York and Paris. They are: New York Future Cow (Brazil) — Animal-free milk made via the precision fermentation of agro-industrial waste. The product is molecularly identical to cow’s milk. Naturannova (Chile) — Uses a proprietary Natural AI technology to rapidly identify peptides in nature, creating natural, healthy, and sustainable flavors. Pioneer Biolabs (US) — Has developed a proprietary genomic screening platform to engineer and optimize microbial cells for protein production.  Harvest Moon Foods (Canada) — The first Canadian company to use precision fermentation to turn …

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Big Ideas Ventures launched its New Protein Fund II

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Fundraising

Big Idea Ventures Raises Initial Funds for $75M New Protein Fund II

Food tech investor Big Idea Ventures (BIV) has announced a first close for its New Protein Fund, which aims to raise $75 million within the next 12 months to support new food tech and protein innovators. This new raise brings its total assets under management to over $100 million.  Investors in the initial funding round included previous New Protein Fund I backers AAK (a Dutch plant-based oil ingredients firm) and Bühler, a solutions partner for the food processing industry. Big Idea Ventures claims to be the first global fund dedicated to the development and expansion of alt proteins, as well as the most active investor in the food tech category. Its NPF I portfolio includes French startup Gourmey, which raised €48 million in Series A funding in 2022, and …

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Extracellular team

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Manufacturing & Technology

UK’s Extracellular: The Challenge of Upscaling Cultivated Meat

How does a cultivated meat startup scale from producing prototypes to developing commercially viable products? The emerging cultivated meat industry faces significant challenges in bringing cost-effective products to the market. Most manufacturing processes have been adapted for the biomedical sector, which produces much lower volumes of outputs than the food industry will need to bring products to market. Supported by Science Creates and based in Bristol, Extracellular was founded in 2022 by Will Milligan, CEO and Kiren Baines, CSO, as the first dedicated contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) for the cultivated meat industry.  In October of 2022, Extracellular secured investment from Big Ideas Ventures, after being chosen as one of seventeen early-stage startups selected for pre-seed investment as part of its bi-annual new protein accelerator program. …

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Big Idea Ventures sixth cohort

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Startups, Accelerators & Incubators

3D-Printed Fish & Bacon Made From Soymilk: The Sixth Big Idea Ventures Cohort

Big Idea Ventures has revealed the 17 companies that have been chosen as part of its alt protein accelerator program. Each one will receive pre-seed investment, which will be made through Big Idea Ventures’ New York, Singapore, and Paris offices via the firm’s New Protein Fund I. The chosen startups are as follows. New York Cultimate Foods (Germany) — Using cellular agriculture to create fat alternatives for plant-based meat. Extracellular (UK) — Accelerating cultivated meat development by producing biomass more efficiently and developing licensable technological advancements. Genuine Taste (Canada) — Developing patent-pending scaffolding technology to cultivate fat cells in their natural microenvironment. NouBio (US) — Animal-free products for scalable cell culture in cultivated meat, cell therapy, and vaccine production. These products include a highly efficient …

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Casein proteins post

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Investments & Finance

Standing Ovation Raises €12M for Animal-Free Casein Production

Standing Ovation, an alt protein food tech startup, today announced it has completed a Series A financing round led by Astanor Ventures, to develop and scale the production of animal-free caseins.   Created in 2020 and based in Paris, Standing Ovation aims to become a key player in the food transition by specialising in the development and production of caseins by precision fermentation to make non-animal and lactose-free cheese and dairy products. CEO Frederic Paques said: “Standing Ovation’s technology has tremendous potential. However, bringing the products rapidly to the market requires significant resources, and substantial funding had become necessary. Astanor Ventures, which had already supported us at an earlier stage, understood it, as did the other participants in this round.” Peakbridge, Seventure Partners, Big Idea Ventures, …

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Kiki Milk Children Photo Plant-Based

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Investments & Finance

PlantBaby Secures $4M to “Create Positive Change for Children’s Health”

PlantBaby, a company producing innovative children’s nutrition products, announces it has raised $4M in seed funding from a lineup of investors including Big Idea Ventures, The Fund LA, and actress Daniella Monet, among others.  First organic kids’ milk  PlantBaby is developing a portfolio of products to support the nutritional journey from infancy to adulthood. The brand’s debut offering, Kiki Milk, was launched as the first organic plant-based milk designed specifically for kids. Introduced in 2021, Kiki Milk comes in Original and Chocolate varieties and features a plethora of nature-inspired whole foods such as organic oats, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds and coconuts. The beverages also contain a proprietary blend of superfood powders made with organic blueberries, spinach and Aquamin, a multi-mineral complex. Kiki Milk was developed with …

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Foody's and Cocuus to launch bioprinted bacon

Bioprinted bacon © Cocuus

Printed Technology

3D Bioprinting Startup Cocuus Raises €2.5M in Pre-Series A Featuring Meat Giant Cargill 

Spanish startup Cocuus has raised €2.5 million in its Pre Series A funding round to scale its 3D bioprinting technology for the production of alternative proteins. Cargill Ventures, the investment arm of the multinational meat giant Cargill, has backed the round to accelerate Cocuus’s process for producing plant or cell-based animal protein food analogs. The Pre Series A funding round was also led by Big Idea Ventures, Eatable Adventures, and Tech Transfer UPV, after Cocuus had completed Eatable Adventures’ acceleration program, one of the top global accelerators for food tech startups. Navarra-based Cocuus now aims to scale its business model and expand into other international markets, enabling it to utilize its disruptive 3D bioprinting and robotics technologies Spanish startup Cocuus claims it can print cutlets, …

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Evolved Meats

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Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

Evolved Meats Raises $2M in Seed Round Led by Maple Leaf Foods and Big Idea Ventures

Canada’s Evolved Meats, formerly known as CaroMeats, announces it has raised $2 million in a seed round led by meat giant Maple Leaf Foods Inc., joined by Big Idea Ventures amongst other investors, to accelerate product development and initial scale-up of production processes. The cultivated meat company states that its “species agnostic platform grows whole cuts of meat that are structurally and biochemically identical to conventional cuts of meat” such as steak, pork belly, chicken breast, or fish fillets. CEO Alireza Shahin developed a novel technique during his PhD and post-doctoral work during which he discovered that he was able to create functional tissues that could then be arranged to replicate any cut of meat from any species. Evolved states that this novel approach allows …

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Cultivated pork meat sausages

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Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

Czech Foodtech Mewery Becomes “The First European” Cultivated Pork Startup Using Microalgae

The Czech startup Mewery holds the claim of being the first European foodtech startup developing cultivated pork on a proprietary microalgae base. The Brno-based foodtech has now received backing from US accelerator Big Idea Ventures to develop cultivated pork.   With pork meat being the second most consumed meat worldwide and the most consumed and preferred meat in Europe, Russia, and China, among others, Mewery has set its sights on becoming the European cultivated pork leader. Mewery is reported to be developing its unique technology based on microalgae in order to decrease the cost of cultivation by 70%. The company aims to be entering the market by 2026 pending regulatory approval.  Developing cultivated pork using microalgae growth factors instead of fetal bovine serum is a key …

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Big Idea Ventures accelerator

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Startups, Accelerators & Incubators

Big Idea Ventures Accelerator Reveals Fifth Cohort, Including Leaf Protein & Kabocha Milk Startups

The Big Idea Ventures accelerator program has revealed the 15 alt-protein startups in its latest cohort. BIV will make pre-seed investments in the companies through its offices in New York, Singapore, and Paris. The startups are as follows: New York The Leaf Protein Co. (Australia) — using innovative technology to unlock abundant and highly sustainable protein from leaves. Optimized Foods (US) — creating products such as cultivated caviar using the form, function, and structure of mycelium. CF Foods Group (US) — developing cultivated CPG goods, starting with premium dog treats. Alt Atlas (UK) — sourcing functional ingredients for the alt-protein industry using a machine-learning bioplatform. The Mushroom Meat Co (US) — making meat alternatives from mushrooms and upcycled plant proteins. Singapore Kabocha Milk Co. (New …

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Investments & Finance

MeliBio Secures $5.7 Million in Seed Funding to Disrupt Global Honey Industry

MeliBio, the world’s first company making real honey without bees, announces a $5.7 million seed funding raise to commercialize its first line of bee-free honey. The seed round, led by Astanor Ventures, brings the startup’s total funding to $7.2 million to date. The raise follows a successful test launch of MeliBio’s honey in four New York City restaurants and at one CPG company, and the startup will now begin scaling its operations and manufacturing. More than 30 companies around the world have already signed on to try its novel honey, MelioBio says. Giving bees a break Founded in 2020 by Darko Mandich and Aaron Schaller, PhD., MeliBio uses precision fermentation and plant science to create its proprietary honey products. The brand conducted a blind industry …

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No Evil

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Investments & Finance

North Carolina’s No Evil Foods Receives Bridge Financing From New Protein Fund

North Carolina-based No Evil Foods recently opened a bridge note round of financing to expand its growth strategy. The funds will help to bring long-term stability to No Evil Foods, the first Certified Plastic Negative plant-based meat company, as it looks to grow its environmentally sustainable, socially conscious plant-based food footprint. The round, led by early-stage alt protein investor Big Idea Ventures, is currently open and No Evil Foods reports that it is seeking additional partners as it pivots into a new stage of growth. The company has nationwide distribution in the natural and traditional retail channels, and will now look to expand distribution partnerships, product launches, and manufacturing strategy. With a focus on maximum nutrition through its utilization of blended proteins, fermentation, and upcycled …

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Actual Veggies Colorful Burger Patties

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Investments & Finance

Actual Veggies Secures $2.3M From High Profile Investors

Plant-based burger company Actual Veggies has raised $2.3 million in its latest funding round, with high profile investors including the venture arm of rapper Post Malone’s management team Electric Feel Ventures. Other backers include ​​English footballer and Inter Miami MLS player Kieran Gibbs, as well as Big Idea Ventures and Rose Street Capital. The New York City-based company, only launched in March of last year, has now secured a total of $2.8 million when combined with its previous funding round from Big Idea Ventures and angel contributions. The firm said it will use the new capital to expand its product assortment, invest in new equipment to streamline production and boost brand awareness through increased marketing efforts. The company currently offers four different SKUs and is …

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Startups, Accelerators & Incubators

Third Big Idea Ventures Cohort: From Edible Cutlery to Artisan Cheese to Cell Cultured Turkey

From a company creating whole muscle seafood through fermentation to one working on edible cutlery to reduce waste, BIV’s third cohort is focused on sustainably feeding a growing world population. These entrepreneurs are looking to tap into growing market opportunities across the alternative protein landscape. The 15 companies in the third cohort include: New York Accelerator • AquaCultured Foods — seafood alternative using microbial fermentation • The Frauxmagerie — plant-based cheese using cultures without dairy • Innocent Meat — B2B cell-based meat production system • incrEDIBLE — edible cutlery to reduce single-use plastics • Blue Ridge Bantam — Cell-based ground & whole-cut turkey • New Breed Meats — plant-based burgers, grounds & sausages that beat competitors’ on nutrition and taste • Plant Ranch — authentic …

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Agriculture / Agribusiness

Big Ideas Launches $125M Agricultural Fund in North Carolina

Big Idea Ventures LLC has announced the launch of the Generation Food Rural Partners (GFRP), a $125 million target fund that will fuel economic development in rural communities across the United States through the commercialization of food and agricultural technologies, protein innovation and other university intellectual property. “Big Idea Ventures was founded to solve the world’s greatest challenges by backing the world’s best entrepreneurs,” said Andrew D. Ive, founder and managing general partner. “This new fund will widen our scope to capture breakthrough technologies from world-class universities that will impact the global food supply chain. The goal is to drive job creation and entrepreneurship in rural communities hungry for economic development and have them continue to be the centres of food innovation and production for …

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Big Idea Ventures

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Company News

Bühler Group Invests in Big Idea Ventures’ New Protein Fund to Accelerate 100 Alt Protein Startups

Big Idea Ventures today announces it is partnering with plant equipment manufacturer Bühler Group for its New Protein Fund, which is set to invest in up to 100 plant-based and cell-based companies internationally. The focus will be on Singapore, further to our recent reports revealing the country to be a foodtech hub for plantbased industry.

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