Spanish project rewards start-ups for upcycling algae, extending shelf life and vertical farming robots

02 Oct 2023 --- The Spain Foodtech Program, a start-up acceleration initiative led by Eatable Adventures in collaboration with the National Center for Food Technology and Safety (CNTA) and the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade (ICEX), has announced the four start-ups that will participate in its first edition. The selected companies offer innovative solutions in the fields of food waste and upcycling, vertical farming and fermentation.

The program will support the businesses with an investment fund of €10 million (US$10.57 million) to be used over the next three years, as well as offer mentoring, networking and access to leading companies in the food industry.

This approach aims to boost the scaling and expansion of start-ups, according to FoodTech. The initiatives will establish synergies to generate high-impact solutions in the agri-food value chain.

“This program aims to boost the technological development and scalability of the selected start-ups, enabling them to become leaders in their respective segments at a global level. Furthermore, this program fosters the Agri-food tech business ecosystem in Spain, solidifying its positioning and leadership,” Paula Giser, VP of acceleration programs at Eatable Adventures, tells Food Ingredients First.

“The selection criteria are based on the start-ups’ ability to address the most critical challenges in the food system, their technological development and intellectual property, scalability potential and, of course, a strong and fully dedicated team.”

Tough times to scale up
The call for projects has received over 120 submissions, making it a challenge to select the technology-based projects with the most potential, according to Giser.

Néboda uses robots for highly-efficient vertical farming. (Image Credits: Néboda).“These start-ups’ solutions are truly disruptive and address key themes in transitioning the food system toward more efficient and sustainable production models,” she explains.

Nonetheless, the macroeconomic environment is complex right now. Geyser details that high-interest rates can significantly impact start-ups, especially those in the early stages. These challenges exert an impact on their financing and growth during this critical phase. Last month, the Valusect Project – an insect protein consortium – also noted the current economic headwinds as a notable challenge for novel companies.

“When start-ups seek external funding to fuel their growth, they often rely on loans or lines of credit. High-interest rates can substantially increase the cost of borrowing, making it more expensive for these businesses to obtain the necessary capital,” Geyser notes.

“Initiatives like Spain FoodTech play a crucial role in helping start-ups overcome these challenges. Spain Foodtech Program provides valuable resources and mentorship to early-stage companies and serves as a bridge to the broader business ecosystem. By participating, start-ups can enhance their business model, technological development, and go-to-market strategy,” she explains.  

Moreover, the program drives collaboration with established companies in the food industry, opening doors to partnerships and potential customers. 

“It provides opportunities for start-ups to connect with national and international investors, helping them secure the funding needed for sustainable growth and expansion. In this way, initiatives like Spain FoodTech act as catalysts, enabling start-ups to navigate the complex financial landscape and thrive facing challenges like high-interest rates and inflation.”

The selected start-ups
The initiative chose four start-ups: Bio2Coat, Néboda, Poseidona and Mmmico.

Bio2Coat works toward addressing the challenge of food waste and reducing single-use plastic through 100% natural coatings, extending shelf life for foods like fruits and vegetables.FoodTech aims to step up the scaling and expansion of the winner start-ups. (Image Credits: Spain FoodTech).

Néboda, which has developed an automation technology – using robots – that is applied to vertical farming, enables a high-density, low-cost cultivation system. 

The third company, Poseidona, transforms algae production waste, upcycling it into innovative ingredients and proteins. The company highlights that its production system positively impacts the marine ecosystem.

Mmmico uses microorganisms as small biofactories to produce ingredients for various areas of life. Currently, the company is focused on colorants and antioxidants, yet the range of possibilities is endless, according to the business.

The company combines techniques such as fermentation, directed evolution, and artificial intelligence to develop new natural ingredients at low costs. Javier Viña, CEO at Mmmico, tells Food Ingredients First how the company’s technology works.

“We take these microorganisms with surprising abilities and we grow them following processes very similar to those that have been used for thousands of years in producing beer or wine. This is what we know as fermentation.”

“This fermentation technique is perfectly complemented by our Directed Evolution technology, an improved version of the evolution of species proposed by Charles Darwin,” he explains.

“Fast evolution”
Viña explains how the Directed Evolution technology works.

Bio2Coat is working toward expanding the extending shelf life for foods like fruits and vegetables. (Image Credits: Bio2Coats.)“Under controlled laboratory conditions, we simulate specific selective pressures that force these microorganisms to evolve naturally in the direction that best suits us: being more efficient in producing our ingredients. It’s like natural selection but fast-forward.”

“To give an example, the evolution of human beings from Australopithecus to Homo sapiens took 4 million years and 160,000 generations of individuals. At Mmmico, we can replicate that same number of generations with our microorganisms in just a few months,” he details.

Moreover, the company is developing an AI tool – Biometheus –  to simulate the different evolution paths of microorganisms and select the best candidates, which will result in the development of new natural ingredients at reduced times and costs.

Natural colorants with vast applications
Mmmico is working on ingredients derived from microorganisms that could be integrated into different food matrices as natural coloring: sauces, prepared dishes and meat analogs.

“We have also discovered that some of these ingredients have enormous antioxidant potential, some up to 6,000 times more than Vitamin C. These are ingredients to which benefits are attributed, such as cardiovascular and brain protection, digestive and immune function improvement, muscular resistance, or an anti-aging effect,” Viña details. 

“This would open the way to new applications such as cosmetics, animal feed supplements, or nutraceuticals.”

The company plans to dive into the food, nutraceutical and animal feed markets. 

“Our strategy involves co-developing products with large corporations in these sectors. This will allow us to achieve product-market fit faster and more solidly, validating each of the applications with real pilots,” Viña underscores.

“In parallel, we must continue with our internal R&D, which feeds our Directed Evolution tool and Biometheus,” he concludes.

By Marc Cervera