This round was led by Big Idea Ventures, Cargill Ventures, Eatable Adventures and Tech Transfer UPV
Madrid, June 8, 2022 _ The Spanish startup Cocuus has raised 2,5 million euros in its Pre Series A funding round for its innovative process for producing plant or cell-based animal protein food analogs. The company achieved this round after completing Eatable Adventures’ acceleration program, one of the top three global accelerators for foodtech startups.
The round was led by Big Idea Ventures, the global alternative protein fund, the U.S. multinational Cargill Ventures, the Spanish accelerator Eatable Adventures and Tech Transfer UPV. With a capital injection of this size, the startup can scale its business model and expand into other international markets, enabling them to utilize their disruptive 3D bioprinting and robotics technologies to create more sustainable and nutritious food products.
Patxi Larumbe, CEO and founder of Cocuus states “We are very proud to have attracted the interest of international investors with this round of financing. Thanks to this capital injection we will be able to bring our technology within reach of corporations that want to print proteins on an industrial scale”. In addition, the Founder and Managing General Partner of Big Idea Ventures, Andrew D Ive, also highlights “At Big Idea Ventures, we invest in technology which impacts the alternative protein industry’s entire value chain. Cocuus’ technology addresses a major pain point of structured plant- and cell-based meat production methods: scalability. We are thrilled to support this innovative team and we look forward to seeing their scalable food technology making an impact across the world.”
On the other hand, José Luis Cabañero, CEO and founder of Eatable Adventures notes, “The Spanish foodtech startups’ ecosystem is consolidating very quickly, attracting major investors and international corporations. Through Eatable Adventures, we offer our services to startups and corporations around the globe to accelerate the process of transformation and innovation in the food value chain”.
As Cabañero points out, this current environmental and world population scenario calls for a rethinking of production methods to achieve a much more sustainable and efficient food system. According to FAO data, in 2050, in order to feed a population of 9.1 billion, food production will have to increase by 70% and meat production by more than 200 million tons.
Cocuus, along with MOA Foodtech, Proppos, H2hydroponics, and Innomy have been selected as finalists for the first edition of Spain Foodtech, the acceleration program of Eatable Adventures supported by the National Center for Technology and Food Safety (CNTA) and ICEX Spain Export and Investment.
Cocuus has been awarded by the international Quality Innovation Award (QIA) in the category of Innovation in Microenterprises and Startups, after winning the 2021 national award.
About Eatable Adventures
Eatable Adventures is one of the most relevant food-tech accelerators in Europe and Latam with more than 25 corporate programs launched, a deal flow of 2,200 global food-tech startups each year and operations in four continents.
In 2021 Eatable Adventures launched a €50M fund for investing in early-stage food and agriculture tech startups across Europe and Latin America.
Eatable Adventures detects, promotes and invests in the most disruptive startups that promise a relevant impact on the agri-food value chain, by developing and implementing successful collaboration models with leading companies in the food industry, generating innovation opportunities at high speed.
About Big Idea Ventures
Big Idea Ventures (BIV) is solving the world’s greatest challenges by supporting the world’s best entrepreneurs, scientists and engineers. Its first fund, the New Protein Fund ($50M+ AUM) invests in global alternative protein companies at the pre-seed stage via its accelerator program and seed to series A via direct investment. New Protein Fund I is backed by leading food corporations including AAK, Avril, Bel Group, Bühler Group, Givaudan, NR Instant Produce, Meiji, Tyson Ventures, and Temasek Holdings. To date, Big Idea Ventures has invested in more than 80 alternative protein companies across 22 countries. New Protein Fund II will open in 2022. We are currently accepting applications to our next program beginning this summer in New York, Paris and Singapore.
