Netherlands-based startup Farmless has raised €1.2 million in a pre-seed funding round, propelling its innovative carbon-negative food ingredient production process. The funding signifies a crucial step towards the company’s goal of producing ‘low-cost protein at a planetary scale.’
Adnan Oner, CEO and founder of Farmless, expressed his gratitude for the support of experienced climate tech investors, who share the company’s mission. Farmless’s innovative fermentation platform aims to significantly outperform animal agriculture by generating low-cost proteins on a global scale. Oner believes this technology could eliminate factory farming, restore natural habitats, and sequester gigatons of carbon.
Farmless employs an advanced fermentation method to produce functional proteins with a complete amino acid profile, dissociating food production from agricultural land dependency. By converting renewable energy into food without requiring arable land, Farmless proposes a revolutionary approach to the future of food.
The Company aims to reverse the effects of conventional food production by eliminating photosynthesis – dubbed “the middle man” – and replacing it with a fermentation process that uses a liquid feedstock derived from renewable energy, CO2, and hydrogen. This technique is markedly more resource- and land-efficient than traditional animal farming, requiring 10-25 times less land than plant-based protein production and 250-500 times less than animal protein production.
Lauren Lentz from Revent expressed her support for Farmless’ innovative approach, stating, “We’re excited by the Farmless approach to fermentation. We’re specifically interested in food technologies with high scalability and the potential to outperform on the cost per kg of protein rapidly.”
Farmless’s initial products are designed to substitute animal proteins, as a significant proportion of agricultural land is currently used for animal feed. In addition, the company’s fermentation platform promises to create a wide variety of food products, including proteins, carbohydrates, beneficial fats, vitamins, and minerals.
Image provided by Farmless
