Dairy-backed cell-cultured incubator chooses 4 alt-milk start-ups

Mylkubator, an incubator specifically for cell-cultured dairy start-ups, has chosen four companies from Spain, the US, South Africa and India to take part in its first cohort.

The incubator programme was launched by Pascual Innoventures, the open innovation arm of Spanish dairy giant Pascual, in collaboration with Madrid-headquartered food tech accelerator Eatable Adventures.

Pascual said the four companies were selected for their promising technical developments in producing milk and dairy products using cell-cultured technologies, cutting animals out of the equation.

From casein protein to culturing media

Spanish company Real Deal Milk develops casein with precision fermentation technologies to produce dairy products that are made without livestock but are nutritionally equivalent to traditional dairy products.

India-based Zero Cow Factory, also uses precision fermentation and microbial bioengineering to develop cow's milk proteins without the involvement of any animal. It specializes in a type of milk protein – A2 casein – that is highly valued in the sector for its nutritional benefits.

South Africa-based De Novo Dairy also uses precision fermentation to make proteins identical to those in cow's milk. Its method involves extracting the milk proteins from the fermenter, purifying them and combining them with vegetable fats and healthy sugars to create dairy products.

Finally, US start-up M2Factors, a subsidiary of 108labs, is developing culture media and food-grade growth factors to achieve commercial-scale production of cell-cultured milks at costs it says will be comparable to those of animal milks.

‘A before and after in food innovation’

Cellular agriculture and precision fermentation promise to dramatically shake up traditional supply chains based on animal products. Pascual Innoventures’ Mylkubator is just the latest example of how a growing number of players in the meat and dairy sectors are entering the cell-cultured space through investments and partnerships.

The investment arm of Cargill invested in Memphis Meats and Aleph Farms, and Tyson Foods’ venture fund investing in Memphis Meats and Future Meat Technologies. Brazilian meat giant BRF announced a partnership with Aleph Farms to supply cultured beef to the Brazilian market.

Sejal Ravji, director of Pascual Innoventures said the first edition of Mylkcubator aimed to mark a dramatic “before and after in food innovation”.

“I think we are facing global challenges that can only be resolved thanks to bold bets like this; it’s a starting point for the development of the dairy products of the future,” Ravji said. “It’s a very ambitious project at many levels, including technological, but we’re partnering with leading experts, companies, and investors from all over the world who share our vision to make it happen.”

Possible pilot scale-up

Pascual Innoventures, Eatable Adventures and the investors and partners involved will study the feasibility of the start-ups’ proposed innovations and evaluate the possibility of developing pilot projects for future business opportunities in the dairy sector, according to a statement by Pascual.

As part of the program, the four start-ups will be monitored by venture funds such as Blue Horizon, Lever VC, Unovis, and 9.5 Ventures.

Barcelona-based Real Deal Milk said it was excited to learn from the food-tech experts at Eatable Adventures and dairy veterans at Pascual.

“To us […] this is a big deal - pun intended. It shows that the traditional dairy industry doesn't look at cellular agriculture as the enemy but as their future path. We admire Pascual's commitment to fostering innovation in this space and signalling their belief in a more sustainable future.”

Annual cohort

The six-month hybrid incubation programme will run on an annual basis, selecting up to 10 start-ups each year.

Pascual has identified several areas of interest within the cellular agriculture field – cell-based, fermentation-based and applied technologies – and invited dairy-focussed start-ups, entrepreneurs and scientific projects to apply in the future.

Within the cell-based space, this includes isolating, improving and classifying human and animal cell lines; producing different products, ingredients or constituents; novel growth media and growth media factors; and advanced cell-growth techniques.

For fermentation-based developments, areas of interest include microbial strain development, new microorganisms or optimizing host cells; new inputs for fermentation processes; target metabolite identification and selection; and bioprocessing design and manufacturing.

Applied technologies of interest include bio reactors and replication technology; machine learning models for production optimization; AI models for final product development; and production control systems.