The Protein Brewery, an innovator in biomass fermentation, has closed an €18m Series B extension to scale and advance its flagship ingredient - a mycoprotein called Fermotein.
It brings the total raised to €70m.
This comes just two weeks after Fermotein became the first novel EU-grown mycelium ingredient to be approved under the EU Novel Food Regulation. It can now be sold across all EU member states.
The investment is led by new investor ABN AMRO Sustainable Impact Fund with backing from its existing investors.
The product is made from a fungus and it’s a whole-food mycelium ingredient – meaning that it’s grown from the whole organism – that contains 50% protein, 30% fibre and a range of micronutrients and fungal bioactives. It comes in the form of a powder.
“This is a real milestone for European fermentation,” says Chris Bryant, executive director at Bryant Research, which specialises in alternative protein research. ”The first mycelium ingredient through the EU’s novel food process proves the pathway works, and the €18 million that followed shows investors were waiting for exactly that signal. Regulatory clarity de-risks the whole sector."
Fermentation is emerging strong
It also shows that biomass fermentation is emerging alongside plant-based and cultivated as a protein source.
“As an alternative protein technology, fermentation has been less hyped than cultivated meat but is closer to commercial reality,” says Bryant. “An ingredient delivering complete protein and high fibre, now cleared for the EU market, is exactly the kind of practical win the sector needs to keep Europe competitive with the US and Asia.”
While its approval and investment is positive news for other companies in the space and signals that the EU is open to novel proteins, it does demonstrate how long and arduous the journey to approval can be. It took six years from submission to gain approval.
“Capital follows certainty,” says Bryant. “An eight-figure raise landing within weeks of authorisation shows that regulatory approval, not technology, has been the binding constraint for fermentation in Europe.”
How did the investment happen?
“We deliberately expanded the round beyond its initial target,” says Thijs Bosch, CEO of The Protein Brewery. “Our initial €30m Series B closed in September 2025, and since that time the company has made very strong progress.”
The company’s current capacity in the US for 2026 is sold out.
The funding will be used to expand production capacity to more than 2,000 metric tonnes at its facility, drive sales into Europe with a focus on active nutrition, functional foods and beverages, and advance research into the benefits of the ingredient.
It will also pursue regulatory approvals in new markets, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India.
Its investors saw the promise and scalability of the ingredient.
“The Protein Brewery has successfully translated strong scientific foundations into a robust industrial-scale production process and a growing commercial business, exactly the profile we look for in companies that can deliver measurable environmental impact at scale,” says Ugur Yuksel, investment manager for ABN AMRO Sustainable Impact Fund. “We are pleased to support its next phase of growth.”
The future’s bright
With demands for sustainable sources of protein and functional foods ever increasing, the future looks bright for this market.
“Approval plus investment in the same month is the clearest sign yet that European fermentation is moving from promise to market,” says Bryant. “Europe has the science and now the regulatory precedent to drive fermentation forward.”
