Brevel Raises USD18.5m to Bring a Sustainable Protein to Market

Brevel, the leading microalgae-based alternative protein company, completed its seed funding round of USD18.5m. The funds raised will be used to provide an alternative protein that is neutral-tasting, functional, highly sustainable and affordable to the mainstream food industry. The 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. 

Brevel’s technology is the first in the world to combine sugar-based fermentation of microalgae with high light concentrations at industrial scales to produce a protein that will be incorporated by food manufacturers into plant-based products. This technological breakthrough tackles the primary barriers to market penetration for new protein sources: taste, functionality, and cost. The company says this makes it the most suitable protein for the plant-based industry. 

The company is primarily targeting the dairy alternative sector, which faces a significant challenge in protein content. Brevel is achieving cost parity with traditional plant-based protein sources such as pea and soy by utilizing its 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.

Brevel’s process causes the smallest environmental footprint possible and is unaffected by weather conditions, climate change and seasonal variations. It does not require arable land, can recycle 100% of the water, use on-site clean energy and feed the world with a fraction of the land used today for traditional agriculture. Brevel has been operating their large-scale 500 liter pilot in Israel and will very soon move into their first of commercial-scale factory with the first-of-its-kind 5000 liter fermentation and light system. All of Brevel’s manufacturing systems have been designed and built by Brevel, as well as the development of all the biological processes.