Glasgow-based food technology startup ENOUGH announced that it has secured €40M in growth funding round co-led by World Fund and CPT Capital.
Established in 2015 to meet the global demand for sustainable protein, ENOUGH produces ABUNDA mycoprotein. It ferments fungi using renewable feedstocks to produce alternative proteins at scale.
The company says the funds will primarily be used to expand its large-scale mycoprotein production. With this new funding, ENOUGH’s total raised capital surpasses €95M.
ENOUGH’s proprietary technology enables up to 15 times more efficiency compared to other protein sources. The company claims that its zero-waste production process uses 93 per cent less water, 97 per cent less feed and produces 97 per cent fewer CO2 emissions compared to beef protein, making it cost-effective.
“With this new funding, we will accelerate that growth. The alternative protein market is a multi-billion dollar opportunity, and the ethical and environmental reasons to embrace non-animal protein sources are more pressing than ever,” says Jim Laird, founder and CEO of ENOUGH.
Ensuring sustainable protein production
The meat industry contributes nearly 15% of greenhouse gas emissions and is a major source of methane and deforestation. Producing sufficient sustainable protein is a top priority to ensure a healthy diet for the growing population, ENOUGH mentions in a press release.
Meanwhile, plant-based food demand is also rising. BCG research indicates that the alternative protein market is projected to hit $290B (€267B) by 2035 — at least 10 per cent of meat, eggs, dairy and seafood consumption worldwide coming from alternative sources. However, current solutions are limited in scale and accessibility as they are more expensive and less accessible to the general public.
ENOUGH’s innovative technology facilitates large-scale sustainable protein production, generating a core protein ingredient for global alternative meat products. Its ABUNDA mycoprotein is cultivated from fungi fed with sustainably sourced grain sugars, undergoing fermentation similar to beer or wine production.
The company says that mycoprotein is rich in protein, fibre and all essential amino acids, boasting a neutral flavour and meat-like texture. Various plant-based meat and dairy products use this alternative protein. These products are marketed and sold in major stores and fast-food chains worldwide through partnerships like those with M&S and Unilever.
This places ENOUGH at the forefront of large-scale sustainable protein production, facilitating partnerships with brands and white-label manufacturers in retail, food service and fast-food sectors to expand their plant-based product lines.
Plukon Food Group, a European poultry processor venturing into non-animal chicken and meat products, also shows a keen interest in using mycoprotein as a raw ingredient.
“You can hardly tell the difference between our non-animal chicken with ABUNDA and traditional chicken,” says Plukon Food Group CCO Niels van Gestel.
Drawing investors to scale up protein production
ENOUGH has just launched a new protein factory in Sas van Gent, Netherlands, for large-scale ABUNDA production. Located near a Cargill facility, it ensures efficient feed sourcing and supports its zero-waste strategy.
To start, the factory will create 10,000 metric tonnes of ABUNDA annually, with future plans to increase this to over 60,000 tonnes per year. This is equivalent to generating the protein from a cow every two minutes.
The combination of this efficient technology and a zero-waste strategy drew sustainability and food tech investors, including Europe’s top climate investor World Fund, to support ENOUGH. World Fund supports entrepreneurs who create climate technology solutions capable of saving substantial CO2 annually.
“We’re delighted to be supporting ENOUGH as they scale up to become the global leader in sustainable protein,” says Craig Douglas, founding partner at World Fund.
“ENOUGH’s work has the potential to help combat food scarcity, reduce the use of resources in the food industry and reduce emissions on a global scale and we look forward to working with Jim and the team to help them achieve this,” adds Doughlas.
ENOUGH also plans to grow more than one million tonnes of ABUNDA by 2032.
This is equivalent to replacing five million cows or over a billion chickens. The goal is to address the unsustainable impact of traditional protein farming and feed the growing global population.
Read the orginal article: https://siliconcanals.com/news/startups/enough-secures-40m/
