US$18m funding propels progress with “protein from thin air” commercialization

03 Sep 2020 --- The production of a unique single-cell protein “made from thin air” is ramping up, following a €15 million (US$18 million) financing round for Finnish food tech start-up, Solar Foods. The new funding propels the commercialization of Solein, an entirely new kind of nutrient-rich protein that is produced using air and electricity as its primary raw materials. This signals that the company can push ahead with its planned production facility scheduled to be operational in late 2022.

Focused on “changing the way food is produced,” Pasi Vainikka, Co-Founder and CEO of Solar Foods, speaks with FoodIngredientsFirst about the pioneering technology and how he’s taking pilot operations into the next level, following the funding the largest food-tech financing round in Finland to date.

“In the past 30 months since the start of the operation of the company, we’ve built the capability to continuously produce the solein ingredient and produce foods out of it, on the pilot scale. The next 30 months is all about scaling it; to first provide some quantity to the market, proving our case in what we call a demo plant. We also need to obtain novel food permits,” he explains.

“After the demo has run, we would then have a large scale factory. It’s essential for us as a company to be financially solid to attract other kinds of investments. Equity is the most important part of it,” Vainikka says.

Solar Foods is the first company capable of producing food by using air-captured CO2 in a complete and continuous mode, including the preparation of the actual final food products. Hailed as “revolutionizing food production,” the production of Solein is non-dependent on agriculture, climate or the weather. Producing Solein can take place in the toughest of environmental conditions, such as in the desert, the Arctic, or possibly even in space. 

Solein’s production process does not involve irrigation, pesticides and fertilizers applied on open land or animals. Solein’s production process does not involve irrigation, pesticides and fertilizers applied on open land or animals. A new production plant, enabled by the new funds raised, will be a key milestone in Solar Foods’ strategy. 

The new facility will enable the commercialization of new food products based on the novel platform ingredient. Thus far, Solar Foods has already developed 20 different kinds of food products that utilize Solein.

“We’ve worked with meat replacing products and adding textures to meat. We’ve also worked with dairy products, including drinkable products or thicker-than-beverage products such as yogurt or cheese,” Vainikka continues.

“For those who follow mostly plant-based diets, iron and B12 are essential vitamins to get into the diet. We can provide that alongside clean label benefits. Bread is an interesting matrix because if you add Solein to bread, you can eat bread as before but then it just would have proteins of meat and vitamins of carrots and meats in it – so it’s an interesting nutritious concept. There are other products that might be part of breakfast, snacks and on-the-go categories,” he says. 

Demonstrating the rich nutritional value & potential of Solein 
Solein is a complete protein with all the essential amino acids, it is light in both taste and appearance. It “vanishes” into daily meals, while maintaining its rich nutritional value and offering a unified solution that caters to virtually “every imaginable meal of today,” according to Vainikka.

“This new, genuinely sustainable and natural protein also provides exciting opportunities for entirely new foods of tomorrow.”

The expanded operations are planned to demonstrate the future of food production in an urban environment. The expanded operations are planned to demonstrate the future of food production in an urban environment. The facility will include the Solein Experience Hub and a future-food bar to provide an entirely new level of transparency in food production, which is why the production facility is also called the demonstrator.

“We also can provide tasting experiences based on these ingredients, and the same would be true if you go to buy a new car. You go to the dealer and you see the latest models of supercars there, but also behind the glass, there is the factory where they assemble Ferraris where you can experience it and drive it around. This is the analogy I use to compare what we are doing here with food.”

Key drivers behind creating future proteins
The scientists behind Solein say it will compete with soya on price within the next ten years and could be the answer to tackling environmental problems often associated with farming and the livestock sector. The breakthrough comes at a time when slowing climate change and pressure mounts on the food industry to rise to the challenges of producing sustainable food to feed the world’s ballooning population. 

“There is much we have to do as humankind and while the standard of living increases, there’s a larger population, the problems just become larger and larger so what we want to do is delink the increase in natural resources and the increasing need for nutritious food,” Vainikka adds.

“Now that companies like ourselves are working towards better food systems, the consumer can enjoy better products which, if they are nutritious enough, people will go for them and feel empowered to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.”

“We are thrilled with our new partners and their vast experience now at Solar Foods’ disposal. This development now enables us to successfully proceed with our planned production facility,” he concludes.

The latest funding round was led by Fazer Group with Bridford Investments Limited, Agronomics Limited, Lifeline Ventures and CPT Capital.

By Gaynor Selby