Food awareness organization ProVeg International is advancing AI-powered protein production and precision-fermented dairy from fungi by supporting ten global start-ups through its latest ProVeg Incubator program starting next month.

The initiative offers companies up to US$300,000 in funding and services, as well as coaching from more than 100 mentors, to support their product market entry.

The 13th cohort of the program includes participants working on plant-based seafood, precision-fermented proteins, upcycled cheese alternatives, and novel fats to bolster technologies to create sustainable, ethical, and scalable alternatives.

“They bring to the table innovative products that will help shift the food system toward more climate-friendly and sustainable foods. These products play a much bigger role in ensuring our food in the future is healthy for both people and the planet,” says Antje Räuscher, head at the ProVeg Incubator.

Valorizing food waste

Some of the seleced start-ups are focusing on upcycling ingredients and valorizing food waste or by-products for new protein products. These include Brew Bites from Germany, which produces upcycled protein chunks from brewer’s grains and pumpkin seed flour.

Austria-based Freundeskreis formulates plant-based cheese alternatives from upcycled apricot kernels, and Mindful FÜD from Canada rescues apples to develop plant-based honey alternatives.

Meanwhile, Polish start-up MycoVibes Biotech grows microproteins in bioreactors in a circular fermentation process by using food production waste as a key feedstock.

Driving alt-dairy and meat innovations

Another set of start-ups targeting alt-dairy includes Finally Foods, which leverages molecular farming to grow dairy protein casein using potatoes through its AI-powered bioengineering platform.

Brazil and Singapore-based Updairy harnesses precision fermentation to create sustainable, animal-free dairy proteins.

Additionally, some companies are innovating whole-cut analogs or prepared foods mimicking meat or fish using plant-based inputs, such as Profillet in Canada, which taps marine-derived ingredients to create plant-based white fish that replicates the natural flakiness of fish fillets without heating or freezing.

Poland-based Planeat formulates meat and seafood alternatives, such as tuna, pulled pork, and beef tartare, using a mix of plant-based ingredients and animal fat replacements.

Meatless Kingdom leverages mushrooms and soy to formulate plant-based meat with an Indonesian culinary focus.

Plant-based fat ingredients are also in focus, with Israel-based KaYama Foods’ novel plant fat alternative that it claims is cholesterol-free, clean label, E-free, and contains up to 90% less saturated fat.

ProVeg International aims to replac 50% of animal products globally with plant-based and cultivated foods by 2040. The organization previously discussed the ProVeg Incubator program’s focus on start-up strategies for the Asia Pacific market in an interview with Food Ingredients First.