Big Idea Ventures has announced six new company investments through the Global Food Innovation Fund II (GFIF II).

The latest cohort includes start-ups that are developing solutions from fermentation-enabled fatty acids and novel methods for developing cultivated meat, to protein-based flavours and advancements in microbiome and gut health.

The new fund builds on the success of Big Idea Ventures' New Protein Fund I, supporting and investing in companies focused on proteins, fats, ingredients, sweeteners, flavourings, and mono-crops. Backed by leading food corporations such as AAK and Buhler, GFIF II is dedicated to improving food security and sustainability worldwide.

The new start-ups that operate in the cell-ag space, are:

• Meatosys, Germany: Enabling farmers to produce cultivated meat on their farms using cells from their own animals. It supplies a turn-key automated production system and business concept to farmers and sell the produced meat to the processing industry.

• BiomeMega, Australia: Producing sustainable omega fatty acids from probiotic bacteria that have wide-ranging applications, including food and animal nutrition.

• Nalca Biotech, Chile: Creating continuous and modular production lines for precision fermentation. This modern infrastructure is faster and easier to use than traditional batch-based systems.

• Renew Food, UK: Specialising in protein-based flavour ingredients, the company is currently developing a heme protein to give plant-based meats a realistic meaty taste.

The remaining two start-ups, NanoInGreen and Future Biome, are working to develop probiotic bacteria-based ingredients with high absorption rates, and a new class of prebiotics to target health issues linked to the microbiome, respectively.

Andrew Ive, founder and managing general partner of Big Idea Ventures, said: “The founders behind these start-ups are some of the most innovative minds in the food industry, and we’re excited to be working with them and our fund investors. We look forward to collaborating with them to help usher in the next generation of food solutions."

Henrietta Hearth, VP of global acceleration at Big Idea Ventures, added: “We are seeing a shift in the foodtech space toward solutions that improve nutrition and sustainable ingredients, and some of the companies in this cohort address these trends. From microbiome-targeting prebiotics to sustainable fat solutions and cultivated meat, these start-ups are driving the future of food. We’re excited to support their journeys and help integrate traditional industry players into these innovations.”

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