Indian start-up Proeon has raised US$2.4 million in seed capital for scaling new plant proteins sourced from amaranth, mung bean and Indian chickpea. The sustainable food ingredients company will set up a research lab in the Netherlands, filing patent applications, scale production and expand its team.
It is spoken that co-founders Ashish Korde and Kevin Parekh Proeon about the company’s growth trajectory and future targets within its key focus markets of Europe and North America.
“We explored India, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the Netherlands. After a lot of deliberation and detailed evaluation we decided on setting up our facility in the Netherlands,” Korde details.
“The Netherlands offers a great ecosystem of academic research, corporations and start-ups in the agri-food sector,” he remarks. “Wageningen University being based here is a globally top ranked university in this sector and offers great support for companies to develop new technologies.”
“There is great research talent and infrastructure at Wageningen and they have the best possible experts and students in this field globally. This makes it easier for us to source the right talent.”
In recent years, Wageningen has attracted food industry giants including Unilever, Symrise and AAK. FoodValley, the municipality’s agri-food hub, lends significant support to start-ups through initiatives such as the Protein Cluster, which opens its facilities to start-ups seeking to develop and scale new F&B products.
Tackling plant protein shortcomings
Currently, Proeon is working with brands from Europe, North America and Southeast Asia to build more sustainable and healthier plant-based alternatives such as highly functional plant-based egg-replacement products, clean-label burgers, patties and alternative dairy products.
During its conception phase, the company reached out to global food brands and formulators to better understand the primary shortcomings of plant-based proteins, such as poor solubility, emulsification, flavor and nutrition, as well as allergenicity.
“Keeping in mind all these factors, we started from scratch and studied close to 40 different sources of proteins and analyzed them on multiple factors including nutrition profile, functionality, organoleptics, supply chain availability, ecological impact and sustainability,” says Korde.
“Based on these criteria, we selected a few sources and developed a proprietary process to create high concentration proteins without the use of any harsh chemicals or solvents.”
Zeroing in on viable next-gen proteins
Notably, where plant-based proteins are expected to create varied applications such as alternative milk, eggs and cheeses, it is not possible for one protein to solely fit all applications.
India’s agricultural heritage and biodiversity has produced a plethora of diversified protein sources, which can be blended to address this global demand.
Amaranth, in particular, is a largely underutilized plant ingredient on the market, having more than 8,000 years of history as a superfood with an excellent protein profile. “It is 100 percent gluten-free and rich in minerals and vitamins,” highlights Parekh.
“It is also one of the most climate resistant and ecologically viable crops. Also, it grows with minimal farming inputs thereby benefiting small scale farmers.”
In scaling its portfolio, Proeon has also selected a specific Indian variety of chickpea that has “superior protein profile and functionality” that makes it a preferable alternative to currently available chickpea proteins in the market.
“It is a very sustainable crop with a low carbon footprint and water stress,” adds Parekh.
Mung bean, as the company’s third plant protein in focus, is also highly sustainable while offering a neutral taste and flavor profile. It is a favored ingredient in growingly popular egg replacements such as JUST Egg.
Will plant-based win the protein race?
Research from the Good Food Institute India indicates that US$3.1 billion was invested in the broader smart protein sector globally in 2020, up three times from the year prior as enthusiasm for sustainable and secure protein supply chains deepened during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The future might certainly see products that come from fermentation and lab grown meat innovation, but they would still be dependent on plant-based ingredients,” Korde comments.
“For example, lab-grown meat will require scaffolds for giving structure to the meat which would come from plant-derived proteins. Meanwhile, many fermentation-derived proteins would still need to be combined with plant-based proteins to achieve the required functional and sensory characteristics.”
The plant-based protein sector is projected to reach nearly US$200 billion by 2027, highlights Proeon.
“We are already seeing that more and more space of animal-based products is now being occupied by plant-based products,” says Parekh. “In places like the Netherlands, supermarket aisles for vegan foods, plant-based meats and dairy have considerably grown in size over the past couple of years.”
“The plant-based claim alone will not be enough,” he adds. “Consumers will look for options which are highly nutritious, carbon neutral, allergen-free and clean label.”
In collaboration with its partners and customers, Proeon is aiming to save more than 170 billion liters of water and eliminate about 150 metric tons of CO2 emissions by replacing animal-based foods with alternatives.
Last February, the company was selected by Food Tech Studio - Bites! – a global accelerator program by Scrum Ventures to support emerging and “out-of-the-box sustainable food solutions.”
The latest funding round, led by entrepreneur Shaival Desai, also saw participation from Flowstate Ventures, Peak Sustainability Venture Fund I, Waoo Partners and other angel investors. Existing investor Sanjaya Mariwala, managing director of OmniActive Health Technologies also participated in this round.
