Onego Bio

Onego Bio

A rendering of the planned facility. © Onego Bio
Eggs

Onego Bio to Establish Flagship Manufacturing Facility in Jefferson County, Wisconsin

US-Finnish animal-free egg protein producer Onego Bio has announced plans to establish a flagship manufacturing facility in Jefferson County, Wisconsin. The company will become the second tenant at the county’s Food and Beverage Innovation Campus, after purchasing 25.9 acres within it for $777,000. The purchase was reportedly approved by the Jefferson County Board of Supervisors at its December meeting. The new facility will be dedicated to producing Bioalbumen®, a powdered animal-free egg protein created through precision fermentation. The product is designed to replicate the taste, nutrition, and functionality of traditional egg proteins while addressing supply chain issues and offering a significantly reduced environmental impact. The site will reportedly have the capacity to produce a quantity of egg protein equivalent to the output of six million …

more

Onego Bio

© Onego Bio
Eggs

Onego Bio Submits GRAS Notification to FDA for Animal-Free Egg White Protein Bioalbumen

Finnish-American food ingredient company Onego Bio has submitted a Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) notification to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its animal-free ovalbumin. Ovalbumin is the primary protein found in egg whites, and has been successfully replicated by Onego Bio through precision fermentation using the fungus Trichoderma reesei. Called Bioalbumen®, the animal-free egg protein has the same nutritional, functional, and performance properties as ovalbumin, with the potential to address supply chain issues in the global egg market. Bioalbumen is claimed to be the first non-animal egg protein with an amino acid sequence identical to the natural protein. It can be used as a drop-in solution across a range of applications, including baked goods, confectionery, pasta, and ready-made meals. The environmental impact …

more

Onego Bio san diego headquarters open

© Onego Bio
Company News

Onego Bio Opens US Headquarters in San Diego to Scale Animal-Free Egg Protein

Onego Bio, a US-Finnish food technology company specializing in animal-free egg proteins, has opened a 5,000-square-foot commercial headquarters in San Diego, California. The facility includes office space, advanced laboratory capabilities, and a test kitchen designed to demonstrate the functional applications of its flagship product, Bioalbumen. Bioalbumen is a powdered, animal-free egg protein created through precision fermentation. It is designed to replicate the taste, nutrition, and functionality of traditional egg proteins while offering a significantly reduced environmental impact. According to the company, Bioalbumen’s production results in over 90% fewer emissions compared to conventional eggs. Maija Itkonen, CEO and co-founder of Onego Bio stated, “The test kitchen will demonstrate Bioalbumen’s application in a variety of food categories, including pasta, bakery, and confections. By leveraging precision fermentation technology, …

more

Onego Bio_Bioalbumen whisk

© Onego Bio
Investments & Finance

Finnish Alternative Protein Firms Secure €10M for Collaborative R&D Projects From Business Finland

Business Finland has granted two Finnish projects — FoodID and FinBioFAB — 10 million euros in R&D funding to create alternative proteins and materials through research collaboration. The Finnish projects were accepted into the Global Centers program led by the US National Science Foundation (NSF), operated jointly by six countries aiming for breakthrough solutions to global challenges. This year’s funding call focused on the bioeconomy, with the main themes being biofoundries and biodiversity. Alternative proteins and cacao The FoodID project seeks to innovate sustainable processes by leveraging digital tools to produce alternative proteins and lipids using plants and fermentation. The aim is to create sustainable and healthy raw materials to improve global food systems. Finland’s VTT, the University of Helsinki, and companies Fazer, Valio, MeEat, Enifer, …

more

© Onego Bio
Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

Onego Bio Secures $15.2M for Animal-Free Bio-Identical Egg Protein

US-Finnish precision fermentation company Onego Bio has secured $15.2 million in funding from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator Program and other Series A investors. This takes the amount raised by the company in 2024 to $55 million, and its total funding to $70.8 million. Onego Bio produces Bioalbumen®, an animal-free bio-identical egg protein manufactured as an industrial food ingredient. Bioalbumen is said to have perfect protein quality, full functionality, and a neutral flavor; it could also alleviate the environmental burden of conventional egg production by as much as 90%, while providing a stable supply. This is likely to be very attractive to manufacturers, since chicken eggs have been plagued by supply chain issues in recent years. Commercialization Onego says it is focusing on commercializing …

more

Alex Crisp discusses eggs with Maija from Onego Bio

© Future of Foods
Egg Alternatives

Future of Foods Podcast: Maija Itkonen, CEO of Onego Bio Produces Bio-Identical Egg Proteins Without Chickens

Alex Crisp, host of Future of Foods Interviews, talks to Maija Itkonen, CEO and co-founder of Finnish precision fermentation company Onego Bio, about manufacturing real egg white protein, entirely without the use of chickens, which as Maija explains, are the most abused animal in the world. Onego Bio produces Bioalbumen, which the company says is bioidentical ovalbumin, the most important protein in egg white, delivering the nutritional and functional qualities of traditional eggs. The product was a winner in Fast Company’s 2023 World Changing Ideas Awards, with Bioalbumen named the Winner of the Food category and a Finalist in the Agriculture category. This April, the company raised $40 million in one of the largest Series A rounds in the Nordics, with the fresh funds being …

more

Onego Bio raises funding for animal-free egg protein

© Onego Bio
Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

Onego Bio Raises $40M to Commercialize “Revolutionary” Animal-Free Egg Protein

US-Finnish biotech company Onego Bio has raised $40 million in one of the largest Series A rounds in the Nordics. The funding will be used to drive the commercialization and manufacturing of the company’s animal-free egg protein, which is produced using precision fermentation. The round was led by NordicNinja, with participation from Tesi, EIT Food, Agronomics, and more. It also includes $10 million in non-dilutive funding from the Finnish government association Business Finland. Previously, Onego Bio raised €10 million in seed funding in 2022, after being founded as a spinoff from VTT (the Technical Research Center of Finland). Onego Bio’s ingredient, Bioalbumen®, has a neutral taste and is bioidentical to the major egg white protein ovalbumin. It contains all the essential amino acids, has the …

more

Onego Bio Candy/ Desserts/ Confections

© Onego Bio
Egg Alternatives

Onego Bio Combats World Egg Crisis with Precision Fermentation

On this World Egg Day, Finnish food-biotech company Onego Bio offers a solution to a global challenge – the sustainability and ethics of egg production. Onego Bio has created an egg white alternative through precision fermentation – Bioalbumen™, an animal-free egg white protein. This innovation not only addresses environmental concerns but also offers economic advantages. The company claims Bioalbumen™ production has a 90% lower carbon footprint than traditional egg production, coupled with ten times better yields and a 20% reduction in production costs while providing the same nutrition and functionality as traditional egg whites. The company uses precision fermentation and the microorganism Trichoderma reesei to produce what it claims are bioidentical egg proteins that offer the same functionality and nutrition without the ethical, environmental, and …

more

Onego Bio_Bioalbumen whisk

© Onego Bio
Fermentation

Onego Bio’s Animal-Free Egg White Wins Fast Company 2023 World Changing Ideas Award

Fermentation startup Onego Bio announces its development of Bioalbumen™, an animal-free egg white protein, has been selected as a winner in Fast Company’s 2023 World Changing Ideas Awards. Bioalbumen was named the Winner of the Food category and a Finalist in the Agriculture category.  Produced with precision fermentation, Bioalbumen harnesses a scalable biotech process that uses the microorganism Trichoderma reesei. In a method akin to beer production, the microbes are fed water, sugar, and certain minerals to produce Bioalbumen powder, which is identical to egg white protein powder.  According to Onego Bio, Bioalbumen provides all the nutritional and functional benefits of egg whites without the environmental, safety and supply chain concerns of chicken eggs. The product also maintains the performance of real egg whites, including …

more

Topics:

microbial protein Formo cheese gratin

© Formo

Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

Food Tech Leaders Launch Food Fermentation Europe to Bring Sustainable Animal-Free Foods to EU Market

A group of leading players in precision fermentation announce they have come together to form Food Fermentation Europe (FFE), a new alliance working to create a more resilient and sustainable food system in Europe. Representing the region’s fermentation food and food ingredient sector, along with its surrounding ecosystem, FFE says it will work with regulators to bring more sustainable animal-free foods to the European market.  FFE’s founding members include Better Dairy, Formo, Imagindairy, Onego Bio and Those Vegan Cowboys. The group says its members are united in the pursuit to improve current unsustainable food systems and have three primary objectives:  To raise awareness and build a supportive, forward-looking policy framework for fermentation food and food ingredients in Europe. To advocate for a predictable, non-discriminatory and …

more

Vegan Egg White

© The Every Co.

Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

9 Global Food Tech Leaders Join Forces to Launch The Precision Fermentation Alliance

Today, nine leaders in precision fermentation announce they are coming together to establish the Precision Fermentation Alliance, a new trade organization to promote precision fermentation as a solution for a more resilient and sustainable food system.  Intended to serve as an industry voice for the precision fermentation industry, the group’s founding members include Change Foods, The EVERY Co., Helaina, Imagindairy, Motif FoodWorks, New Culture, Onego Bio, Perfect Day, and Remilk. Precision fermentation involves the process of creating nature-identical versions of popular products and ingredients (like dairy and egg proteins) by utilizing the natural ability of microorganisms to turn sugars into proteins and other complex organic molecules. According to the Alliance, its members have aligned on the following goals: Promote understanding of precision fermentation technology. Build …

more