Vivici secures US$14M via European Innovation Council to scale production of dairy proteins

SWITZERLAND – Dutch startup Vivici has received €12.5 million (US$14.4 million) through the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator Program to scale production of dairy proteins via precision fermentation.

Formed by Fonterra and dsm-firmenich in December 2022, Vivici has moved rapidly by leveraging its founders’ expertise in dairy proteins and industrial-scale biomanufacturing.

It recently integrated novel tech from Danish startup Enduro Genetics into its production strain, enabling a dramatic increase in titers and yields, two key metrics in biomanufacturing.

“We entered the scene as the new kid on the block, and since then, we’ve leapfrogged a lot of the field and catapulted ourselves to the front,” CEO Stephan van Sint Fiet told AgFunderNews. “We have a very strong technology base, a deep understanding of ingredient applications and marketing, and a team with a track record of bringing innovations to market.”

The firm, which raised a US$34 million Series A round last year, has also made rapid progress on the regulatory front, attaining FDA GRAS status for beta-lactoglobulin (the primary protein in whey) in Feb 2025 and self-GRAS status for the bioactive protein lactoferrin in Feb 2026.

Vivici has European co-manufacturing partners able to produce at an industrial scale and has struck a deal with Liberation Bioindustries to produce its proteins in Indiana, USA.

It has also partnered with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office to explore an industrial-scale facility for alt protein production in the UAE.

Headquartered at the Biotech Campus Delft, Vivici has a dairy protein application lab in the Food Valley at NIZO Food Research.

The EIC Accelerator funding sits within its wider business plan, set to unlock the full potential of its technology and sustainably scale up its whey proteins, offering innovative alternatives to a heavily stressed ingredient.

The sustained appetite for high-protein products has sent the whey protein market into a frenzy. Manufacturers are struggling to meet demand – in the US, contracts have been sold well into 2026, and some supplies are sold out for the rest of the year.

Whey prices broke records in 2025, and have kept on surging since. Over the last two years, the cost of whey protein concentrate has risen by 108%, and whey protein isolate has nearly doubled in price.

Using precision fermentation can eliminate reliance on the cheese industry, from which whey is a co-product, and plug the supply-demand gap, offering manufacturers and consumers a more stable source of their favourite protein.

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