Precision fermentation foodtech company Onego Bio, has secured €14 million new funding from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator Program and additional Series A investors.

In 2024, Onego Bio has successfully raised €50.5 million, bringing the company’s total funding to €65 million. 

Manufactured as an industrial food ingredient, Onego’s Bioalbumen® offers bio-identical egg protein with a stable supply, full functionality, perfect protein quality, and neutral flavour. It has the potential to alleviate the environmental burden by ~90 per cent.  

Onego employs a patented fungal fermentation technology that is highly productive and scalable, demonstrating industrial production potential and enabling competitive pricing compared to conventional egg production methods. A single Onego full-scale manufacturing unit will boast a two-million-litre fermentation capacity, effectively delivering the protein equivalent produced by six million laying hens.  

Founded in 2022 as a spinoff from VTT (Technical Research Center of Finland), Onego is already working with major food companies on product formulation in a wide range of products, from baked goods, confectionery, snacks, sauces, pasta, meat alternatives, and more. 

Onego is moving at full speed in commercialising in North America, where the regulatory landscape allows a faster market entry.  With commercial operations in San Diego, California, the company is currently producing Bioalbumen with co-manufacturers while finalising plans for its first own manufacturing unit.

The company is on track to submit a Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) notice to the FDA this year, hoping to receive a “no questions” letter from the FDA in 2025. 

Maija Itkonen, CEO & co-founder of Onego Bio, said: 

“The new funding and immense support from our investors demonstrates their confidence in our vision and the potential of innovations like Bioalbumen to build a more sustainable system.

It also shows that the EU recognizes precision fermentation as a solution to address sustainability issues and enhance food security in Europe and worldwide. 

However, the regulatory approval process must be accelerated to remain competitive and fully capture the potential of exceptional European research and innovation, as the EU currently lags behind other regions in this area.” 

The newly gained EIC funding will also fuel the company’s go-to-market plan in the EU, including securing regulatory approval from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). 

In the 2024 work program, EIC identified precision fermentation as an area where breakthrough technologies or game-changing innovations can significantly improve the European food supply chain’s sustainability, efficiency, and resilience by decoupling food production from the soil and minimizing environmental impacts, including water pollution. 

Lead image: Onego Bio. Photo: uncredited.