Prevo Biotech: Engineering nature for better food
With its ingredient ‘Velea’, this Dutch startup brings clean functionality and indulgent texture back to baked goods.
Published on November 30, 2025
Prevo Biotech
Bart, co-founder of Media52 and Professor of Journalism oversees IO+, events, and Laio. A journalist at heart, he keeps writing as many stories as possible.
At StartLife’s 15th anniversary celebration in Ede, eleven pioneering agrifoodtech startups took the stage to show how science and entrepreneurship can reshape the future of food. From smarter biostimulants and energy-efficient farming robots to next-generation proteins and nutrient innovations, each team presented a bold solution to one of the world’s most urgent challenges: feeding a growing population within planetary limits. In this IO+ series, we highlight their stories; not just the technologies they’re building, but also their vision and the advice they received from the expert panels. Today, we focus on Prevo Biotech.
Khalil Kaddoura from Prevo Biotech took the stage at StartLife’s Demo Day with something everyone could relate to: bread, croissants, and pastries. “Baked products are part of our everyday lives,” he said. “And for this reason, we want them to be as good as possible.”
That simple statement revealed a deep frustration shared by food developers worldwide. “In recent years,” Kaddoura explained, “there’s been a push to make bakery products healthier, replacing saturated fats and synthetic additives with natural ingredients. But the problem is that those natural ingredients often don’t do the job. They compromise both taste and texture.”
And that’s where Prevo Biotech steps in.
Natural ingredients, engineered to perform
The Wageningen-based startup has developed Velea, a saturated fat replacer and texturizer that gives baked goods the richness and structure of butter, without the health downsides.
“At Prevo Biotech, we engineer natural ingredients to do the job,” Kaddoura said. “Our ingredient combines legume protein, natural chlorella biomass, and plant oil. Together, they replicate the functionality of butter in bakery applications.”
The innovation lies not in the ingredients themselves, but in how they’re combined. “The secret,” he explained, “is about bringing all those components together in a smart way, building the right biochemistry. Under heat, we form flavors, create molecular backbones, and then build the buttery structure.”
The result: an ingredient that is entirely natural, plant-based, and capable of delivering texture, flavor, and mouthfeel that rival traditional fats, without the saturated fat or additives.
A science of pleasure
In essence, Prevo Biotech is solving a paradox that has haunted the food industry for decades: how to make healthy food taste indulgent. “Consumers are willing to eat better,” Kaddoura said, “but they don’t want to compromise on taste. The bakery industry has been stuck in that tradeoff. We want to remove it.”
Over the next year, the company plans to validate Velea across five bakery products, onboard its first five customers, and finalize industrial partnerships. “We’re already working with two large bakery companies, two global research institutes, one major flavor house, and two startups,” he said. “Usually, companies reach out to us with their recipes and requirements, and we co-develop their product using Velea.”
His invitation to the audience was clear: “If you’re part of a bakery company, or know one that wants to elevate their products with Velea — reach out to us, and let’s start mixing.”
The collaboration dilemma
After his pitch, Kaddoura raised a challenge that resonated with many founders in the room. “We’ve started several development partnerships with companies,” he said. “But product development isn’t a one-time thing. It’s expensive, it’s long, and it requires investment from both sides. So how do we break that barrier? How do startups and corporates collaborate smarter, faster, and more effectively?”
The panel leaned in. One expert acknowledged that this was the defining challenge of deep-tech food startups. “There’s no magic shortcut,” she said. “It’s about being honest and explicit. Understand what the corporate wants and be clear about timelines and expectations.”
Another advised Kaddoura to balance his pipeline. “Big corporates are great for credibility,” he said, “but those collaborations take time. Work in parallel with smaller companies that can move faster. Learn from both.”
A third panelist smiled and offered a dose of realism. “We sometimes joke that these collaborations take a pregnancy,” she said. “They need time, effort, and care. But when they work, they’re essential, because these are the partners who validate your product.”
Focus beats universality
One of the most insightful comments came toward the end of the discussion. “Many startups make the mistake of saying they can solve everything for the industry,” a panelist said. “That’s never true. It’s much more powerful to define your uniqueness, the one application where your product shines.”
He gave an example. “If you tell a company your ingredient works for every application, they’ll want to test them all. That multiplies time and cost. But if you say, ‘This is perfect for muffins,’ you immediately focus the effort and target the right partners.”
Kaddoura nodded. “That makes sense. We’re already narrowing down where Velea performs best, so we can show fast, clear value.”
Engineering trust, not just taste
For Prevo Biotech, innovation isn’t just about chemistry; it’s about building trust between startups, corporates, and consumers. “We want to make food clean, functional, and delicious,” Kaddoura said afterward. “But to do that, we need to build lasting relationships across the value chain. That’s just as hard as the science itself.”
The journey ahead will take patience. As one panelist put it: “There’s no shortcut, but there is a path.”
With Velea, Prevo Biotech is already walking it; one croissant, muffin, and loaf of bread at a time.
15 years Startlife
Read about all the startups that were part of StartLife’s 15th anniversary Demo Day.