Animal-free proteins: €32.5 million for Vivici
With a new investment, Vivici can expand internationally.
Published on February 25, 2025
Team IO+ selects and features the most important news stories on innovation and technology, carefully curated by our editors.
Vivici, a Dutch protein startup, has raised a €32.5 million funding. Vivici's technology makes it possible to produce high-quality proteins without the use of animals.
Precision fermentation – the method Vivici uses to make dairy protein – combines the process of traditional fermentation with modern biotechnology. They do not use animals. This enables the company to meet the protein needs of a growing world population in a sustainable way, without compromising on price, taste or nutritional value.
Ambitious plans
The investment will enable Vivici to expand internationally, launch a second dairy protein ingredient and build long-term production capacity. The financing round was led by APG – on behalf of Pensioenfonds ABP – and Invest-NL. Innovation Quarter also participated in the investment round, alongside existing shareholders dsm-firmenich and Fonterra.
“This investment accelerates our mission to commercialize sustainable proteins from precision fermentation on a large scale. This investment round confirms the confidence investors have in Vivici's ability to realize this,” says Stephan van Sint Fiet, CEO of Vivici. “With our ViviteinTM protein platform, we are bringing a new standard in protein production to the international market, which will become a fixture in consumer products.”
Protein drinks and vegan bars
The first ingredient to be launched under the protein platform is an isolated whey protein. It offers a responsible alternative to traditional dairy proteins, with, among other things, 86% less water usage and 68% less CO2 emissions.
Vivici's first ingredient, ViviteinTM BLG, is specifically aimed at sports nutrition, a rapidly growing market worth US $28.4 billion worldwide. With product innovations such as clear water-based protein drinks and vegan bars with similar properties to bars made with animal ingredients, ViviteinTM BLG opens up new commercial opportunities within the sports nutrition category.
Duckweed makes a splash: the future of protein production?
Duckweed, a sustainable and protein-rich superfood, gets EU approval, paving the way for a greener and healthier future in food production.