{"id":181535,"date":"2026-09-24T07:37:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T05:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=181535"},"modified":"2026-09-18T13:23:37","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T11:23:37","slug":"investment-in-europes-alternative-protein-companies-grows-but-sector-can-no-longer-rely-on-venture-capital-alone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/investment-in-europes-alternative-protein-companies-grows-but-sector-can-no-longer-rely-on-venture-capital-alone\/","title":{"rendered":"Investment in Europe\u2019s alternative protein companies grows \u2013 but sector can no longer rely on venture capital alone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\"\"
\u00a9 Solar Foods<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Following a summer that has seen\u00a0heatwaves and drought<\/a>\u00a0putting pressure on Europe\u2019s food production, and with global conflicts threatening supply chains, the case has never been clearer that we need to diversify our protein production.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plant-based meat<\/a>,\u00a0cultivated meat<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0fermentation<\/a>\u00a0can play an important role in building a more resilient and sustainable food system. But while private companies and investment have so far fuelled the development of these foods in Europe, governments are beginning to step in with new forms of finance to support scale-up and deliver on their potential benefits.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Chart
\u00a9 GFI Europe<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

GFI\u2019s analysis <\/a>of Net Zero Insights figures* shows Europe\u2019s alternative protein companies raised \u20ac236 million ($274 million) in private investment in the first six months of 2026 \u2013  a 56% increase on the same period last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The growth was led by fermentation companies, many of which also received grant funding, which can boost investor confidence and make scarce private capital go further. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cultivated meat investment grew slightly but remained below its 2023 peak \u2013 demonstrating a need for the sector to diversify its funding sources to secure a path towards commercialisation. Plant-based companies saw a sharp decline in private investment (though H2 2025 was particularly strong), with many companies entering the challenging scale-up phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The figures showed that European startups raised more than three-quarters of the sector\u2019s global total. However, this was a larger slice of a smaller pie as global funding dropped from \u20ac341 million ($388 million) in the first six months of 2025 to \u20ac306 million ($359 million) in the same period this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The number of deals also halved over the same period, suggesting that increasingly selective investors are backing fewer companies. It\u2019s been clear for some time that alternative protein startups can no longer rely on venture capital as they begin to scale production, but innovative financing approaches are beginning to emerge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along with Invest-NL and Invest International, we brought together<\/a> more than 40 leading investors earlier this year to propose new ways to overcome the challenges faced by Europe\u2019s agrifood innovators. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They argued that agrifood innovation doesn\u2019t fit the usual investment mould, in which companies are expected to grow quickly and deliver strong returns within a few years. Other options, including mixing different types of funding, such as grants, loans, and equity, could spread the risk of scaling up across a wider range of investors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public money could also be used more strategically \u2013 not to replace private investment, but to give investors greater confidence to fund plant-based companies through the scale-up phase. The success of fermentation companies in raising grant funding for new facilities gives an indication of what\u2019s possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fermentation leads the way<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Companies working on precision fermentation<\/a>, which has been used for decades to produce rennet for cheesemaking and is now being used to make ingredients such as dairy and egg proteins, raised \u20ac100 million ($117 million) in the first half of 2026 \u2013 more than the \u20ac97 million ($104 million) they received throughout the whole of 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biomass fermentation<\/a> companies, which produce large amounts of protein using a technique similar to brewing, raised \u20ac99 million ($115 million) \u2013 more than the \u20ac61 million ($70 million) raised last year.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"A
\u00a9 GFI Europe<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Again, the investments were characterised by fewer, larger deals, such as the \u20ac25 million ($30 million) raised by the French precision fermentation company Verley and the \u20ac18 million ($21 million) raised by Dutch biomass fermentation company the Protein Brewery \u2013 reflecting wider market trends. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alongside this private investment, fermentation startups also brought in \u20ac67 million ($77 million) in grants \u2013 a considerable increase from the \u20ac45 million ($52 million) in grant funding raised by Europe\u2019s alternative protein companies across all pillars combined in the same period last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In some cases, public investments were combined with private finance and government-backed loans:<\/p>\n\n\n\n