The Protein Brewery Closes €18 Million Series B Extension Led by ABN AMRO

The Protein Brewery, a Dutch biomass fermentation company producing whole-food mycelium under its Fermotein brand, has closed an €18 million Series B extension led by incoming investor ABN AMRO Sustainable Impact Fund and joined by existing investors Invest-NL, Novo Holdings, Madeli and the Brabant Development Agency, bringing total funding raised to date to more than €70 million ahead of the company's European commercial launch following EU Novel Food authorisation. The deliberately expanded round, backed by strong investor demand beyond the initial target, will fund expansion of production capacity to more than 2,000 metric tonnes at the company's Mijkenbroek facility, drive European sales after summer 2026 with a primary focus on active nutrition and functional foods and beverages, advance clinical research into Fermotein's longevity-promoting benefits and pursue regulatory approvals in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India. Thijs Bosch, Chief Executive Officer of The Protein Brewery, said the company is moving from proving that whole-food mycelium is a desirable ingredient to delivering it at the scale that brands and manufacturers need, describing Fermotein as meeting the challenge of feeding a growing and ageing population with fewer environmental resources.

 

The EU Novel Food Authorisation and Commercial Launch Timeline

 

The Protein Brewery's securing of European Commission authorisation as the first novel EU-grown mycelium ingredient cleared under the EU Novel Food Regulation represents a critical regulatory milestone that removes the primary barrier to commercial sale within the European market, where novel food approval processes typically require multi-year safety assessment and can represent the single largest barrier to market entry for alternative protein companies. This authorisation provides The Protein Brewery with a meaningful first-mover advantage in the European mycoprotein market, as competing companies seeking to launch novel mycelium-based ingredients in the EU must navigate the same lengthy regulatory process that The Protein Brewery has already completed. The funding round's explicit allocation toward driving European sales after summer 2026, with primary commercial focus on active nutrition ready-to-mix powders and bars alongside functional foods and beverages, reflects a deliberate market entry strategy targeting the consumer segments where Fermotein's nutritional profile provides the clearest differentiation from competing protein sources.

The company has already sold out its 2026 production capacity to customers in the United States, demonstrating commercial validation and demand for Fermotein ahead of the European launch and providing revenue visibility that supports the capital investment case for the production capacity expansion this funding round enables. Building a strong pipeline in the EU and UK with initial customers in active nutrition, alongside establishing a full supply chain from fermentation to finished product, positions The Protein Brewery to convert its regulatory authorisation into commercial revenue rapidly once European sales formally commence, rather than requiring extended post-authorisation market development before generating meaningful sales.

 

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Fermotein's Nutritional Profile and Market Positioning

 

Fermotein's composition of 50 percent protein containing all essential amino acids, 30 percent fibre and a comprehensive range of micronutrients and unique fungal bioactives provides a nutritional profile that differentiates it from single-macronutrient alternative protein sources like isolated pea or soy protein, positioning the ingredient for the growing longevity nutrition segment alongside gut health, metabolic health relevant to GLP-1 medication users and muscle maintenance applications. The ingredient's neutral taste and odour profile enables integration into ready-to-mix powders, shakes, bars, baked goods and dairy alternatives without the off-flavours that have historically limited consumer acceptance of some alternative protein ingredients, addressing a critical commercial barrier that has constrained broader adoption of plant-based and fermentation-derived protein sources in mainstream food applications. The metabolic health and GLP-1 positioning is particularly commercially significant given the rapid growth of GLP-1 medication usage and the associated consumer demand for high-protein, nutrient-dense foods that support muscle maintenance during medically induced weight loss, creating a substantial and rapidly growing addressable market for Fermotein beyond conventional sports nutrition applications.

Ugur Yuksel, Investment Manager at ABN AMRO Sustainable Impact Fund, said The Protein Brewery has successfully translated strong scientific foundations into a robust industrial-scale production process and a growing commercial business, describing this profile as exactly what the fund looks for in companies that can deliver measurable environmental impact at scale. The patented, low-capital fermentation process underlying Fermotein's production addresses the cost barrier that has long limited the affordability of alternative proteins, positioning the ingredient to compete on price as well as nutritional and environmental credentials against both conventional animal protein and other alternative protein technologies that have struggled to achieve cost parity at commercial scale.

 

Investor Confidence and the Path to Scale

 

The reinvestment of Novo Holdings, Invest-NL and the Brabant Development Agency in this extension round, building on their support in the company's 2025 Series B, signals growing institutional confidence in The Protein Brewery's commercial trajectory and provides continuity of investor relationships that supports efficient governance and strategic alignment as the company scales. ABN AMRO Sustainable Impact Fund's decision to lead the round as an incoming investor adds a major Dutch financial institution's sustainable investment expertise and capital to the company's shareholder base, providing both the funding and the institutional credibility that supports The Protein Brewery's transition from a development-stage company proving its technology to a commercial-scale alternative protein manufacturer. The company's recognition with the Most Innovative Sustainable Solution award at the Vitafoods Startup Challenge provides external industry validation of Fermotein's innovation credentials within the competitive alternative protein and functional food ingredient sector.

The funding allocation toward regulatory approvals in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India alongside the European launch demonstrates a deliberate multi-market expansion strategy that positions The Protein Brewery to capture demand across diverse regulatory jurisdictions rather than depending solely on the European market for commercial scale, reducing market concentration risk and providing multiple growth vectors for the company's continued expansion beyond the current funding round's immediate deployment period.

 

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Outlook for The Protein Brewery's Commercial Scale-Up

 

Whether The Protein Brewery can successfully execute the production capacity expansion to more than 2,000 metric tonnes while simultaneously launching commercial sales across Europe and pursuing additional regulatory approvals in four new markets will be the central operational test of this funding round's deployment over the coming twelve to eighteen months. The combination of sold-out 2026 US capacity, EU Novel Food authorisation, an established UK and EU customer pipeline and continued institutional investor confidence provides a strong commercial foundation, but the company's ability to scale fermentation production efficiently while maintaining product quality and cost competitiveness will determine whether Fermotein can achieve the mainstream market penetration that its differentiated nutritional profile and improving cost economics suggest is achievable. Sustained commercial execution across the European launch and new market regulatory approvals would establish The Protein Brewery as a leading reference company in the whole-food mycoprotein segment of the broader alternative protein industry.

 

Source: The Protein Brewery