Zero Cow Factory, a biotechnology company producing India’s first animal-free protein and dairy products using bioengineering microbes and precision fermentation, announced that it has raised $4 million (INR 32 crore) in a seed round.
The round was co-led by Green Frontier Capital, GVFL and pi Ventures, with participation from Pascual Innoventures, the investment arm of a leading Spanish dairy group Calidad Pascual.
With this funding, Zero Cow Factory will be able to accelerate their R&D efforts, scale up production capacity, and obtain regulatory approvals to hit the market, a statement said.
Surat-based Zero Cow Factory was founded in 2021 by Sohil Kapadia and Parini Kapadia with the aim of revolutionizing the dairy industry by producing sustainable animal free milk proteins and dairy products. Their product is a new alternative to cow’s milk protein that replicates its taste, texture, nutrient profile, and appearance. The company has developed a patented technology to produce dairy proteins such as casein & whey, without any animal being involved. Zero Cow Factory is highly focused on animal-free casein production which is the most complex protein and hasn’t been commercialized by any company globally. The company’s first product is A2 Beta-casein which is also healthier as the A1 milk protein which causes indigestion is absent from their product. The aim is to be the first company to get global regulatory approval for this protein. This will be used to formulate various sustainable food and dairy products like cheese, yogurt, ice-cream, supplement powder etc. which are used across various industries like food, dairy, CPG, nutraceutical, and dietary supplements, according to the statement.
“We are excited to partner with our investors’ outstanding setup and combine them with our talented team, which positions us uniquely to lead the way in building a global dairy 3.0 that is animal-free, sustainable, and scalable,” said Sohil Kapadia, Co-founder and CEO of Zero Cow Factory.
“We are developing a technology to reproduce milk proteins to craft real dairy products that are ethical, safe, delicious, and identical to cow milk but without any animal involved,” said Parini Kapadia, Co-founder and CSO of Zero Cow Factory.
Sandiip Bhammer, Co-Managing Partner and Founder at Green Frontier Capital said, “With cattle being the No.1 agricultural source of greenhouse gases, precision fermentation startups have the potential to disrupt the dairy industry globally. If the world (and India) has to achieve its net zero goals, there needs to be a pivot rather quickly to sustainable solutions like precision fermentation and, in that regards, Zero Cow Factory, is working assiduously on developing its own proprietary A2 casein-based solution, a weakness which plant-based ingredients have not yet been able to address successfully.”
Shubham Sandeep, MD at pi Ventures said, “Zero Cow Factory’s use of cutting edge bioengineering and life science based technologies to change the future of food production aligns well with our investment thesis of backing disruptive tech ventures. We have been impressed by Sohil and Parini and look forward to working with the entire team at Zero Cow Factory to bring lab-grown dairy products to the masses.”
Kamal Bansal, MD at GVFL said, “Zero Cow Factory is at the forefront of innovation in the alternative protein space. Their mission is to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions by providing a sustainable solution that is better for the planet, people and animals.”
Zero Cow Factory is also a part of global innovation accelerators such as Mylkcubator in Spain, MassChallenge in Switzerland and Plug and Play in the USA. Zero Cow Factory has previously raised an undisclosed pre-seed round from global FoodTech investors Artesian VC and Brinc.
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