HAIFA, ISRAEL — Israel-based animal-free dairy protein food tech startup Imagindairy has acquired and is operating its own industrial-scale precision fermentation production lines that are focused on the production of dairy ingredients.
With the facility, the company will now be able to produce more than 100,000 liters of fermentation capacity. It is currently producing industrial-scale batches. The company said it also is planning to expand its capacity to triple its current volume in the next one to two years.
“Having just entered the landscape three years ago, this achievement is a big step forward for us,” said Eyal Afergan, PhD, co-founder and chief executive officer, Imagindairy. “We’ve overcome industry-wide hurdles that have previously been holding precision fermentation dairy back, including the production capacity bottleneck and ensuring that unit economics make sense across the supply chain. This will enable our customers to put animal-free dairy products on-shelf at cost parity to traditional dairy, without compromising on quality. It’s a substantial breakthrough and important step that will allow us to support mass-market adoption, transition to an industrial company, and speed up the development of other milk proteins.”
In November 2021, the company raised $13 million in funding to expand its facilities, grow its team, and boost its R&D capacity. In May 2022, the company achieved $28 million total in investment capital upon securing an additional $15 million in an extended seed round. The company used this investment to accelerate its research and development efforts, to launch animal-free dairy products as well as hire new employees.
The company also recently received a “no questions” response letter from the US Food and Drug Administration for the Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) notice, which was submitted by the company. The GRAS notice means the company’s ingredient is safe for food and beverage use and manufacturing use, the company said.
Imagindairy is planning to launch products using its animal-free dairy protein in the United States in the coming year.Enjoying this content? Learn about more disruptive startups on the Food Entrepreneur page.
