Solar Foods’ go-to-market execution begins
The food tech company receives new EUR 3.5 million funding to boost the commercialisation of the first food produced completely without agriculture. With consumer-product development and go-to-market factory pre-engineering underway, Solar Foods scales from pilot phase towards commercial operation aimed for 2021.
Solar Foods is a food tech company developing a globally groundbreaking solution for producing a new protein called Solein®. A cost-competitive protein that has 10 to 100 times lower climate impact than plant and animal proteins, respectively, the production of Solein consumes only a fraction of the water used in agriculture and does not require the use of pesticides or agricultural land.
The recent report published by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) and the Amazon rainforest fires underscore the urgency to develop a fundamentally more efficient food system. Solar Foods’ solution is designed to address global issues such as these and to provide a way to produce natural protein in a genuinely sustainable way.
“We are excited now to go full-steam ahead towards the commercialisation of Solein,” says Dr Juha-Pekka Pitkänen, chairman and co-founder of Solar Foods. “The new funding announced today enables us to finish the piloting phase, prepare the required technical pre-engineering for go-to-market, build a team around it, and finalise the novel food dossier for Solein. After all, we are about to introduce completely new food for humankind!”
Solar Foods has entered into a strategic collaboration with Fazer Group in consumer product development. “We hope to learn from Fazer’s extensive experience in offering customers new food experiences,” Pasi Vainikka, CEO and co-founder, says.
Solar Foods has received EUR 3.5 million financing from three new investors: Fazer Group, Holdix Oy Ab, and Turret Oy Ab. Lifeline Ventures, who led Solar Food’s seed round last year, also participated. “It is great to have these new investors – all with long industrial heritage – joining us on our journey,” Dr Vainikka continues.
Solar Foods aims to close its series A financing in early 2020. The series A round would enable the actual go-to-market factory investment, including the ramp-up and market launch.
