MOA Foodtech raises $3.8 million to scale AI-powered fermentation

MOA Foodtech has raised €3.3 million ($3.8 million) to expand its AI-powered biomass fermentation platform, according to AgFunderNews. The Spanish startup uses non-GMO yeast strains to convert agricultural and food industry byproducts into functional ingredients for food, pet food and animal nutrition.

The funding round was backed by the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund, Swanlaab Innvierte Agri Food Tech and CDTI-Innvierte. The capital will allow MOA to increase its fermentation capacity from 120,000-liter to 225,000-liter bioreactors and scale production of its first three commercial ingredients.

The company currently markets MOA Q5, a multifunctional egg replacer and emulsifier for products such as sauces and bakery goods; MOA Yeast, a yeast-based ingredient designed to improve taste, texture and nutritional value; and MOA Yeast FeG, developed specifically for pet food and animal nutrition.

CEO Bosco Emparanza told AgFunderNews that the company already has several pilot projects underway, mainly with European businesses. MOA Q5 is being tested in bakery applications, while MOA Yeast and MOA Yeast FeG are being evaluated for food and pet food products.

“MOA Yeast FeG is already used in a commercial pet food product, although we cannot disclose the customer or product name due to confidentiality agreements,” Emparanza said.

MOA’s ingredients are manufactured through a contract development and manufacturing organization partner in Spain and sold directly to food and pet food manufacturers through the startup’s sales team.

The company also has a second business line focused on helping food and agricultural companies transform their waste streams into new ingredients. These projects can involve external manufacturers, partner facilities or licensing agreements, meaning companies do not necessarily need to build their own fermentation infrastructure.

“There are a lot of players in the industry that produce over 100,000 tons a year of different byproducts and they are looking for new solutions,” Emparanza said.

Founded in late 2020 by Emparanza, Chief Scientific Officer Susana Sánchez and Chief Financial Officer José María Elorza, MOA Foodtech has developed a microbial library containing more than 300 microorganisms, although its current production platform relies on yeast.

The startup is particularly focused on using agrifood byproducts instead of conventional fermentation feedstocks such as dextrose. Its technology can work with different sources, including distillers’ grains and crop residues.

“We have over 300 microbes in our library, mainly bacteria and yeast, although today we are only using yeast, which is not considered a novel food [for regulatory purposes] and is OK to use in the US market,” Emparanza told AgFunderNews.

MOA has also built a database containing more than 150 byproducts that can provide carbon, nitrogen and other nutrients required for microbial growth. The challenge is that these materials can vary significantly in their composition.

“What we are looking for is a balance between carbon and nitrogen in those feedstocks. But it’s not simple. The characteristics of those byproducts can be different from one system to another, and we have built an AI platform that can help us adjust the culture media in real time to get the most optimal conversion rate,” Emparanza said.

The company’s AI platform, called Albatross, is designed to accelerate the development of fermentation processes by matching microbial strains with available byproducts and identifying the most efficient culture conditions.

The system combines genomic information from MOA’s microbial library with laboratory data and information about the characteristics of different byproducts. According to Emparanza, this approach has significantly reduced the time required to optimize fermentation conditions.

“For our first ingredient, it took us six months to develop from the experimental design to the best conditions in the lab. Right now with Albatross, we are able to complete the same process in less than two weeks,” he said.

The company sees this combination of AI, fermentation and food waste valorization as a way to improve the economics of biomass production while reducing reliance on conventional feedstocks.

For MOA Foodtech, the next stage is to move beyond laboratory and pilot-scale development and increase industrial production. The expansion to 225,000-liter bioreactors is expected to give the company the capacity needed to support commercial demand and expand its portfolio of fermentation-derived ingredients.