Onego Bio Secures $15.2M for Animal-Free Bio-Identical Egg Protein

This takes the amount pulled in by the company in 2024 to $55 million, and its total financing to $70.8 million. Onego Bio produces Bioalbumen®, an animal-free bio-identical egg protein manufactured as an industrial food ingredient. Going to Bioalbumen is, to have perfect protein quality, full functionality, and a neutral savor; it could as well alleviate the environmental burden of conventional egg production by as much as 90%, while providing a stable supply.

Since the regulatory landscape should allow for faster marketplace entry, this is likely to be very attractive to manufacturers, since chicken eggs have been plagued by supply chain issues in recent years. © Onego Bio Commercialization Onego states it is focusing on commercializing Bioalbumen in North America. The firm plans to submit a Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) notice to the FDA this year, and hopes to receive a “no questions” letter in reply by 2025.

Meanwhile, the EIC financing could help Onego Bio achieve regulatory approval and commercialization in the EU. Of 969 applicants, Onego was one of just 68 to receive backing, after it was determined that the business had the potential to scale up and create new trades (or disrupt existing ones).

The EIC recognized that precision fermentation could have a leading impact on the sustainability, efficiency, and resilience of the European food supply chain. Onego has disclosed that it is already working with leading food businesses to incorporate Bioalbumen into a range of products, including baked goods, confectionery, snacks, sauces, pasta, and meat alternatives. The firm is also finalizing plans for a manufacturing unit with a two-million-liter fermentation capacity, delivering a quantity of protein equal to that produced by six million laying hens. © Onego Bio “The real factory farming” The industrial production potential of Onego’s patented fungal fermentation technology should allow for rate competitiveness with conventional egg production.

Speaking to the Future of Foods Interviews podcast earlier this week, Onego co-founder and CEO Maija Itkonen stated that producing protein in bioreactors would become “the real factory farming” . That said, to remain competitive and fully capture the potential of exceptional European work. Innovation, the regulatory approval process must be accelerated, as the EU at present lags behind other regions in this area.” Here you can read and listen to this week’s Future of Foods Interviews in which podcast host Alex Crisp talks to Onego Bio CEO Maija Itkonen.