Alternative proteins : Big Idea Ventures supports the companies of tomorrow

After New York and Singapore, Big Idea Ventures (BIV) is moving to Paris to support a new cohort (cohort 4) of start-ups. Still on the same theme, the start-up accelerator recruited 7 new start-ups last year that are developing ingredients or products to create the proteins of tomorrow.

Plant proteins, which are, for now, the main alternatives to animal proteins, are well known and established on the market. However, this field still need more innovations but hopefully some other solutions are coming soon.

Among the 2021 cohort, cultivated meat or ingredients from by-products are of course some of these new alternatives, but also sustainable fats, plant-based desserts and drinks, food technologies … All elements are there for it to imagine the food of tomorrow ! 

All year long, they could all benefit from 800 hours of training, mentorship and networking throughout the program as well as 3 global demo days, including an in-person showcase at Station F in Paris.

Cohort 4 – Paris – 2021 was composed of these 7 fermen-tech, plant-based food, cell-based and ingredient companies:

• Green-on: Sustainable staured fats made from carbon dioxide, electricity and water. Could be used to replace palm oil in confectionnary but also adapted to replace other fats in dairy analogs such as icecream for instance.
• YOFI: Pea-based drinks in alternative to animal milk. The use of pea give a high nutritional value to these plant-based drinks with high amount in proteins.
• The VERY Food co. : Alternatives to eggs, cream and butter that replicate the same texture, taste, appearance and properties of animal-based equivalent. Allow cooks to replace their usual ingredients without changing too much their habits and recipe.
• MOA foodtech: High protein powder made from food industry by-products thanks to biotechnology, fermentation processes and artificial intelligence.
• Bright Biotech: growth factor intended for cultivated meat cell growth. Its particularity is that it is manufactured through choroplasts, improving in that way its availability and reducing costs compared to actual growth factors.
• Little bandits: plant-based desserts for children, dairy and soy-free, rich in calcium, low in sugars and fortified with vitamins. An solution for parents searching for nutricious and healthy products even for their allergic-to-dairy children.
• Luyef Biotechnologies: cellular meat made thanks to molecular biology and photonics. They have already developed a myoglobin protein which delivers the flavour and aroma of real meat for plant-based meat.

The next cohort is coming ! Applications for cohort 5 are now closed since 10th january and candidates for 2022 are going to be reviewed and choosen soon. No doubts, there will be some nice innovations in this cohort again.