Brevel raises US$18.5 million to develop microalgae-based alt-protein, first to combine fermentation with light in production

ISRAEL – Israeli-based microalgae-based alt-protein company, Brevel, has completed its seed funding round of US$18.5 million, which will be used to provide a neutral-tasting, highly sustainable and affordable alternative protein for the mainstream food industry.

The seed funding round was led by NevaTeam Partners and supported by the European Union’s EIC Fund, as well as other leading food and climate funds and strategic partners from within the food industry.

The total Brevel’s seed funding also included US$8.4 million converted from grants and convertible loans into shares.

According to Yonatan Golan, CEO and co-founder of Brevel, the substantial funding round will fuel Brevel’s journey forward and pave the way for the vision of sustainable nutrition for the future of the planet to materialize.

“We are primed and ready for our next major leap the global scale production of Brevel’s protein that will be integrated into healthier, tastier and environmentally friendly food products in every household,” he said.

Shai Levy, managing partner at NevaTeam Partners, who will also be joining Brevel’s board added that following Brevel’s impressive developments and achievements in recent years, the company will be one of the leading companies in the global alternative protein industry.

With the new world-first technology of combining the sugar-based fermentation of microalgae with the high concentration of light at industrial scales, Brevel will produce a protein that will be incorporated by food manufacturers into plant-based products.

This technological breakthrough is aimed to tackle the primary barriers to market penetration for new protein sources: taste, functionality, and cost.

As a result, Brevel’s proteins are increasingly in demand by food manufacturers for a wide variety of applications, and, according to the company, will enable the development of healthier, tastier and environmentally friendly non-animal food products.

Other plant-based protein sources such as soy are allergenic and often have overpowering flavours, making them less efficient for use in plant-based milk and cheese products.

In contrast, Brevel’s protein can be seamlessly incorporated, significantly boosting nutritional value and enhancing texture without compromising on taste, colour, or cost.

Brevel aims also to achieve cost parity with traditional plant-based protein sources such as peas and soy by utilizing this unique technology to generate valuable co-products alongside the high concentration of functional protein from microalgae, such as functional lipids, pigments and more.

This approach enables Brevel to attain almost triple the profitability from the same microalgae, making it feasible to price the protein competitively in the market.

The company has been operating its large-scale 500-litre pilot in Israel and will soon move into its first commercial-scale factory with the first-of-its-kind 5000-litre fermentation and light system.

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