Australian start-up Cauldron is to scale its precision fermentation technology after securing $10.5 million from local and global investors, led by Main Sequence – a deep tech venture capital firm founded by CSIRO – and Horizons Ventures.
The start-up says the funding would be used to expand its existing plant, build a national production network, and grow a team of precision fermentation experts.
Fermentation is a process used for thousands of years to brew beer and culture yeast – which takes months or years to perfect. Precision fermentation “hypercharges” the process, creating optimal conditions for microbes and bacteria to create new proteins, fats, and fuels.
The company says its platform significantly reduces the cost of precision fermentation while increasing the efficiency five times compared to other methods.
“Our technology, 35 years of expertise, combined with Australia’s unique infrastructure and abundance of natural resources, will help ensure companies in this space can get new products and ingredients to market quickly, at lower cost and risk,” Cauldron CEO and founder Michele Stansfield said.
The company said it would expand its existing pilot facility in Orange, NSW, and, during the coming years build a network of precision fermentation facilities around the region that can tap into the country’s agricultural know-how while diversifying and creating new local jobs.
“Humanity has spent thousands of years getting fermentation to work,” Stansfield remarked. “With Cauldron’s revolutionary platform, we are supercharging that process and unlocking the next evolution of how we produce food, feed and fibre globally.”
This story first appeared on our sister publication Inside FMCG
