Three hot start-ups designing and creating sector-challenging proteins

Proteins lie at the heart of improving functionality in food and beverage. They can alter the colour, taste and texture of a food product, can change how it cooks, and define its nutritional properties.

At Future Food-Tech in London this week, FoodNavigator spoke with three start-ups designing proteins for a range of functionalities and uses.

Biomatter – combining physics and AI to develop enzymes​

Biomatter is a Lithuanian tech start-up which develops enzymes for uses both within and without the food industry, combining generative AI with mathematical models.

Generative AI alone, according to Matthew Thompson, VP for programs at Biomatter, has issues with accuracy when designing enzymes. “The problems with a lot of Gen AI today is that they still don't have the accuracy to design functional enzymes straight out of their models.

“Physics is enabling us to increase the accuracy of those models, finetune and create functional enzymes very accurately.”

By physics, Thompson means ‘physically consistent mathematical models’ of proteins. The more accurate they are, however, the more computationally demanding they are. By combining them with generative AI, the company cuts down on the levels of computing necessary.

When designing sequences, the company’s model provides scores and data which predicts the functionality of proteins and ‘how likely they are to behave themselves.’

The company produces proteins for a range of industries, producing raw materials for vaccines and enzymes for diagnostic kits. In the food industry, Biomatter has recently developed an enzyme allowing a client to access an HMO not available to them through precision fermentation, an HMO present only in the earliest breast milk of mothers.

The company can also design enzymes with little experimental data. In the past, Thompson told us, in order to improve an enzyme, one would need to research a wide range of sequences, a process that could take up to two years. With its generative AI, Biomatter is able to produce enzymes with little to no experimental data of this form.

MicroHarvest – designing proteins with biomass fermentation ​

MicroHarvest is a German biotech start-up that uses biomass fermentation to develop proteins for food, feed and pet food.

One of MicroHarvest’s key focuses is the speed by which it can produce its proteins. According to MicroHarvest, the company has the fastest protein production technology in the world.

“We leverage the fast growth of the bacteria, and that way we can increase the productivity of the bioreactor volume, which is good because you can really be competitive. It also means you can scale very fast,” Katelijne Bekers, CEO and co-founder of MicroHarvest, told FoodNavigator. According to Bekers, the company can produce one tonne per day of its ingredient.

Many ingredients companies are looking to use novel ingredients in order to be more sustainable. While the number of such ingredients is growing, according to Bekers, sustainability remains a key issue. With its very efficient production process, MicroHarvest aims to provide this scalability.

In terms of functionality, MicroHarvest’s main focus is nutrition, Bekers told us. However, the company is now moving further into the food space and is seeing emulsifying properties, for products such as sauces and cream cheeses.

Moving into food, the company is still exploring the many functionalities within the space, and the many potentialities of its product.

Vivici – developing whey proteins through precision fermentation​

Netherlands-based Vivici uses precision fermentation to develop dairy proteins, with a particular focus on whey proteins, on a B2B basis.

Vivici currently has beta-lactoglobulin, one of the most predominant whey proteins, on the market, and it is working on lactoferrin.

Dairy proteins are “very nutritious and very functional,” Stephen van Sint Fiet, CEO of Vivici, told FoodNavigator. They are, in particular, good for their versatility.

“When you make a whey protein you can use that as an ingredient not just in dairy alternatives but in protein beverages, protein bars, even in baking.”

Clients are looking for a range of key functionalities from whey proteins, such as modulation, emulsification, foaming, and the nutritional aspects.

Vivici’s proteins can not only be used in dairy alternatives such as milk, yoghurts, ice-creams and cream cheeses, but in meat and seafood alternatives, egg replacements for baking, protein beverages, and even sports nutrition, Fiet told us.

Whey proteins as an ingredient are purified, unlike their naturally occurring form, but are still not completely pure. “The naturally occurring whey proteins are typically occurring in mixture. They come as milk, typically, and when you purify them, as large dairy companies do, you get things like whey protein concentrates or whey protein isolates. But they're still not 100% pure proteins."

Vivici, he told us, produces 100% pure proteins using precision fermentation. This makes it nutritionally and functionally different from these other products.