FUTURE OF FOOD?

Berlin’s Nosh Biofoods raises €3.2 million for its fungi meat replacement.

DESPITE THE RANGE OF BENEFITS PLANTBASED MEAT SUBSTITUTES PROVIDE, THEY ARE FAR FROM PERFECT AS FOOD SOURCES. BUT BY DEVELOPING A FUNGI BIOMASS ALTERNATIVE, NOSH BELIEVES IT HAS THE SOLUTION.

ith an everincreasing global population, the food industry faces an urgent need to feed people in a sustainable manner and rethink existing food production systems. The production of animal protein, which contributes heavily to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, is ripe for disruption.

Berlin-based developers of traditional meat and other sources of protein Nosh has raised €3.2 million in a seed funding round. The startup will use the capital to press forward with research and development projects, intensifying commercialisation efforts while gearing up for mass production.

The seed round was led by Earlybird Venture Capital and saw the participation of Grey Silo Ventures, Clear Current Capital and Good Seed Ventures.

On the decision to not only invest in but lead Nosh’s €3.2 million seed round, Earlybird partner Dr Christian Nagel commented, “Finding more sustainable alternatives to the current food system is key to fighting climate change, yet plant-based options often fall short in terms of taste, texture and price.

“Nosh Biofoods’ fermentationbased functional ingredient platform can play a significant role in tackling these challenges.

Earlybird

However, the potential goes beyond plant-based products – their versatility makes the ingredients a fit even for more traditional categories and products. We are excited to partner with the Nosh team on this journey and happy to welcome our second FoodTech portfolio company to the Earlybird family.”

Alejandro Marangoni from the University of Guelph, a key advisor on the Nosh board said, “Many of the processes developed are too expensive, lack nutritional properties and functionality, and are too energy- and waterintensive to qualify as truly sustainable. I always had the feeling that these options were not viable alternatives. The day I first held Nosh’s biomass in my hands, I realised that this could be the solution we’ve been looking for: structure, functionality and nutrition at a viable price through biology. This could represent the basis of the new generation of foods to feed humanity.”

Nosh Biofoods was founded in 2022 by Tim Fronzek, former cofounder of rebuy.com, and Felipe Lino, former Novozymes researcher and global R&D manager at AB-InBev.

The startup tackles food innovation head-on by unlocking the unrealised potential of alternative proteins using fungi biomass.

The company aims to transform the food industry in a way that is not harmful to people, animals or nature. In addition to developing a technological platform to produce a class of highly functional food ingredients, Nosh also develops animalfree proteins for human nutrition.

It aims to help manufacturers of animal-free products compensate for their disadvantages in terms of taste, texture and price so that they can reach mass markets.

Beyond plant-based segments, Nosh’s products can be used in dairy, meat, confectionery, bakery and beverage verticals.

For further information visit nosh.bio.

Source: Tech Funding News

Renewable energy

ounded in 2020, Viritech develops solutions and technology powered by hydrogen.

Based in Warwickshire, UK, the startup provides hydrogenpowered pressure vessels and control systems for machines, vehicles and aircraft.

Viritech is leading the world in the development of integrated hydrogen powertrains, harnessing the strengths of fuel cells, advanced energy storage and revolutionary vehicle control systems to deliver world-class solutions to the automotive, aerospace, marine and distributed power industries.

The company focuses on areas where hydrogen fuel cells offer immediate benefits — where power, range and duration requirements increase or long-term energy storage is required.

It is developing powertrains for high-performance vehicles, heavy transport/equipment, aircraft, boats/ships and offgrid energy.

Viritech’s strategy hinges on agile development processes to help Tier 1 suppliers and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) accelerate the development of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) by offering radically more

“Passionate cleantech engineers leading the development of hydrogen powertrain solutions for the automotive, aerospace, marine and distributed power industries” efficient products and solutions within a complete FCEV ecosystem, combining high performance with easy implementation.

Viritech technologies tackle two key challenges of implementing FCEV powertrains:

Weight

Most FCEV powertrains are closer in weight to Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) powertrains than Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) powertrains. Viritech architecture targets weight parity with an ICE equivalent. For commercial vehicles, this means an FCEV can operate with the same payload and range as a diesel equivalent. In terms of operating costs, this is a game changer.

Supply Chain

Currently, many FCEV powertrain components are still in the early development stage – with prices and availability to match. Equally, there are few standard tools to integrate these products.

Viritech’s products offer considerable cost savings and because they are designed as an ecosystem, they can be integrated by vehicle manufacturers very easily. The startup designs every product to function within its ecosystem or on a standalone basis, so Viritech can supply a complete powertrain solution, or individual components, such as DC-DC Converters or FCEV battery packs.

Learn more at viritech.co.uk