Cosun, a modern Dutch agricultural cooperative, has finalised a CHF 3M investment in scale-up planetary SA to further boost the development of sustainable and cost-effective food ingredients through fermentation. Cosun and planetary will also explore ways to collaborate on commercialising mycoprotein and create new applications for plant-based food.
Royal Cosun is a leading international agricultural cooperative of 8,400 sugar beet growers, with more than 4,000 employees. Cosun produces plant-based food and food ingredients, feed, biobased ingredients and green energy. In line with its “Unlock strategy”, Cosun aims to further expand the portfolio of food ingredients.
Fermentation plays a crucial role in this effort, as it helps to create comprehensive food ingredients that meet requirements for taste, texture, health, and price. As one of the largest sugar beet cooperatives in Europe, Cosun has the availability of sugar, relevant side streams and technical knowhow to further develop its fermentation capabilities.
Geneva-based scale-up Planetary licenses its BioBlocks fermentation technology globally, enabling the production of sustainable bio-based products such as foods and materials at commercial scale. As research for the Swiss Venture Capital Report has now shown, Royal Cosun invested in Planetary in October.
Thijs Bosch, Managing Director Cosun Protein: “Planetary’s expertise in biotechnology will accelerate our ambition to become a significant player in fermentation enabled ingredients. This investment and partnership underlines our commitment to the goals we set for ourselves in our Unlock strategy”
David Brandes, CEO planetary: “We are excited to welcome Royal Cosun as a partner to planetary as we roll out the licensing of our BioBlocks™ platform fermentation technology across the agricultural industry. Through its symbiotic engineering playbook, planetary will enable the conversion of Cosun’s feedstock into higher value mycoprotein ingredients.”
(Press releaase / SK)
The new Swiss Venture Capital Report was published on 26 January. It analyses 304 financing rounds closed in 2020 and includes further article such as an interview with Michael Hengartner, President of the ETH Board, and a list of Swiss "soonicorns". 
Please login or sign up to comment.
Commenting guidelines