Animal-free cheese start-up Formo has bagged $61m in Series B financing from investors including German retail giant REWE.
Set up in 2019, Berlin-based Formo makes dairy-free cheese using koji protein, which is formed by fermenting natural koji fungal cultures or micro-organisms to make the equivalent of the whey derived from cow’s milk.
Alongside news of the capital injection, the company said its Frischhain and Camembritz cheese-alternative products will be stocked in more than 2,000 Rewe, Billa and Metro stores in Germany and Austria.
“With the new funding, the company aims to achieve key milestones, including international expansion, diversifying the product range, driving revenue growth and achieving net profitability by 2027,” Formo said in a statement.
“Formo is also advancing its technology platform to accelerate the commercialisation of animal-free casein products, which will expand the portfolio to include hard cheeses, opening further opportunities in the market.”
New investors to the Series B round included Rewe, Sazaby League, Seven Ventures, Woodline Partners and The Nature Conservancy.
Existing investors contributing were Foodlabs, EQT Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Happiness Capital, Elevat3 Capital and Grazia Capital. Formo raised €42m ($46.3m) in its Series A round in 2021.
Dr. Sandra Wilde, the vice president for food at Formo, said: “Koji has been used in Japanese cuisine for centuries to make miso, sake, and soy sauce, and it's the key to our innovation.
“Koji protein resembles whey protein, making it the perfect foundation for our cheese alternatives.”
Formo said the global cheese market is ripe for “disruption” from animal-free cheese. The start-up lauded its environmental and sustainability credentials, claiming its production generates 65% fewer emissions and uses 83% less land and requires 96% less water than conventional cheese manufacturing.
So far, however, alternatives to conventional cheese have failed to make the same inroads into the market as in other parts of the dairy sector.
Because Formo’s cheese alternatives are made without cow’s milk, Frischhain and Camembritz are free from lactose, gluten and hormones, and also use no preservatives.
CEO and co-founder Raffael Wohlgensinger said: “Everything is coming together - the launch of our first products, the positive results of our environmental analyses, and the successful funding round.
“This is the result of five years of intensive research and product development, as well as the work of an incredibly passionate team.”
