Paris-based, FoodTech startup Yeasty snaps €1.4M for its alt-protein source

Foodtech startup Yeasty just secured €1.4 million for its circular strategy to alternative protein, which uses brewer’s yeast left over.

Along with Satgana and Caméléon Invest, Asterion Ventures served as the round’s lead investor. Through Asterion, more than 40 business angels made investments, including Cédric Sellin, Clément Alteresco, and Anne Carole Coen.

The team from Paris will now industrialize the production of its protein product, opening the door for a new wave of meat substitutes and high-protein alternatives.

Two significant trends in the food industry are the shift toward a more sustainable diet and the rising significance of protein. The necessity to produce protein substitutes at a scale that combines nutritive value and plant-positive sustainability goes hand in hand with the two.

The Paris-based company Yeasty may have created the ideal concoction and has just secured funds to develop its alternative protein product.

By employing beer, Yeasty, a company founded in 2021 by Juan Londono, Nikola Stefanovic, and Mathieu Durand, hopes to upend the food tech industry. The quest began in a lab at AgroParisTech and Genopole in 2020 when Nikola and Mathieu started looking for a solution to eliminating the bitterness of brewer’s yeast. In 2021, they were able to develop a ground-breaking method, after which they launched.

Yeasty seeks to assist brewers in getting rid of waste products in addition to providing sustainable products to food makers. The firm transforms wasted brewer’s yeast into an alternative protein source by using a circular strategy that utilizes the entire value chain of a product.

The Paris-based team is thus confronted with a dual dilemma, providing an opportunity for manufacturers to locate a better supply of protein while also providing a chance to value an underutilized raw material that is a source of economic and environmental expenses.

“Yeasty intends to become a leader in the alternative protein industry by democratizing the most complete component, with a low impact,” says Juan Londono, co-founder of the company. We are adding value to an abundant by-product thanks to our distinctive technology, and with the help of our investors, we will be able to accelerate our expansion.

Foodtech innovation is a tasty area to be in right now, with new creative ideas producing alternative protein sources, dairy alternatives, and ingredients that will influence the future of our diets, providing our expanding population with the nutrition it requires without harming the environment.

Yeasty seeks to provide a holistically integrated solution that combines nutritive benefits, flavor sustainability, and accessibility.

Satgana and Asterion, two impact-driven investors, have expressed interest in Yeasty’s protein, which has already received praise from more than 30 stakeholders in the food business.

According to Bérengère Lehembre of Asterion Ventures, “Asterion’s mission is to fund and promote firms that combine ambition and environmental impact. Asterion brings together hundreds of French digital investors for this purpose. We are confident in Yeasty’s immense potential, which is consistent with our theory in every manner.

Yeasty has an interesting business potential as the market for protein components for human uses is predicted to increase to nearly €60 billion by 2026. The firm is looking to partner with a range of stakeholders in the food sector, from those who cater to the vegan/flexitarian community to those who provide nourishment for sports and health. It will also be utilized to make bread, protein starches, biscuits, alternative cheeses, and eggs in addition to protein substitutes.

With the money raised, Yeasty will be able to industrialize sample production, allowing food manufacturers to begin testing recipes for things like meat substitutes, pasta, high-protein biscuits, and even sports bars and shakers. The company wants to construct an industrial site with a 5,000-ton annual capacity by 2025.

Image Credit: Yeasty