Alternative Proteins & Healthy Food; The EIT FAN alumni working in this key challenge area

Alternative Proteins and Healthy Food has been highlighted by EIT Food and the EIT Food Accelerator Network as a key challenge area. Last year, the EIT FAN programme welcomed a host of fantastic startups that are making waves in this area with their amazing technologies, including plant-based innovations, taste & texture modifications, crop extraction, food colouring, sugar and saturated fat substitutes, clean label, cellular agriculture, and precision fermentation.

We have chosen 6 startups from the 2021 EIT FAN cohort to highlight. Read on to discover how they are addressing this key challenge area.

The Smarter Food Company

The Smarter Food Company was established to develop foods with proven health benefits. Through the use of a proprietary variety of broccoli that has a high level of a naturally occurring compound, glucoraphanin, their first product, a soup that is consumed once per week, could provide health benefits to those at risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) by reducing elevated blood glucose to normal levels. Currently, the company is undertaking further clinical trials to confirm the data they have with the aim of securing health claims from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and other regulatory bodies around the world.

Find out more about The Smarter Food Company HERE.

AmbrosiaBio

Formally ZIS Food Science, AmbrosiaBio is a biotech venture that develops an enzyme-based technology that converts fruit (or vegetable) sugar reservoirs to various low- to no-calorie rare sugars (e.g., allulose) in a cost-effective manner. AmbrosiaBio differentiates itself from other allulose manufacturers by its technological ability to convert the endogenous sugar naturally present in fruits and vegetables (in-situ conversion) to allulose, rather than relying on the use of HFCS to produce allulose, which is then subsequently added as a sugar replacement. The biggest advantage of this approach is that in-situ conversion can be used by market segments that would otherwise not be able to incorporate sugar reduction into their products (e.g., natural juices, condiments, jams, dairy, etc.).

Find out more about AmbrosiaBio HERE.

Multus

Multus supplies environmentally sustainable and ethically sourced animal-free growth media to the cultivated meat industry. Multus believes that tackling the short-comings of conventional livestock farming is critical to secure a sustainable future. Their growth media aims to make cultivated meat affordable and profitable. Through the use of a proprietary machine learning platform to optimise a variety of growth factor proteins, they have been able to meet the requirements for growing different animal cell types and tissues at scale.

Find out more about Multus HERE.

Imagindairy

Imagindairy produces animal-free dairy proteins that are used to create a range of sustainable, healthy, and tasty animal-free dairy goods such as cheese and yogurt. Their proprietary computational technology has been developed by a world leading group of researchers to increase the expression of milk proteins in microflora. Imagindairy addresses the industry bottleneck by integrating deep tech with system biology to develop a commercial and viable animal free protein-based dairy product.

Find out more about Imagindairy HERE.

Hooked

Hooked are on a mission to create a new generation of seafood that is good for our oceans and our health. Their range of 100% plant-based seafood products aim to achieve both the taste and nutrient profile of conventional seafoods. Their products include Toonish; a vegan tuna substitute, and a range of Toonish mixes including Toonish Mayo, Toonish Curry and Toonish Skagen.

Find out more about Hooked HERE.

Ajinomatrix

Ajinomatrix digitalises the senses of taste and smell for the food industry. Their sensory software with Artificial Intelligence digitally measures the senses of taste and smell so that?you?get easy-to-interpret data and can make fast, accurate decisions with confidence. As a software-only operation, they interface with consumers, tasting judge panels, and sensors such as e-noses or e-mouths in order to help clients interpret sensory measurements with artificial intelligence.

Find out more about Ajonimatrix HERE.