Victoria-based start-up The Leaf Protein Co has raised $850,000 in pre-Seed funding for its green leaf-based protein extraction technology.
The funding round was led by the Breakthrough Victoria-backed University of Melbourne Genesis Pre-Seed Fund, alt protein VC Big Idea Ventures, and LaunchVic’s recently announced agtech sidecar fund, the Hugh Victor Mckay Fund.
The Leaf Protein Co – which was launched in 2020 by CEO and co-founder Fern Ho – told Startup Daily that it plans to use the funding to recruit staff for their pilot production facility and kick off commercial production of their plant protein.
Among the kinds of foods the start-up says their Pereskia leaf-based protein powder can be used in are Middle Eastern Dukkah, baked items like muffins, and beverages such as lattes.
With regards to the technology, Ho explained that the start-up has successfully extracted their ingredients from 13 varieties of plant materials, including waste produce and regeneration plants such as saltbush. She added that they are also using common crops such as alfalfa to provide farmers with additional sources of revenue.
What’s more, Ho said that the company’s process for extracting the protein creates no excess waste.
“Our unique extraction process retains and preserves the functional nutrition held within plants to create sustainable protein sources,” Ho told Startup Daily. “All by-products from this process are also marketable as other food ingredients, animal feed and packaging materials, meaning we essentially produce no waste streams from the leafy green input material.”
Ho’s co-founder, Connor Balfany added that The Leaf Protein Co’s approach provides an alternative future crop for farmers as weather patterns become increasingly unpredictable.
Genesis Pre-Seed Fund CEO Hun Gan said that the start-up served as a great example of an Australian research innovation with the potential to create a positive global impact.
“As an early investor, the University of Melbourne is proud to see The Leaf Protein Co take these important next steps towards translating their new technology into a business with the potential to improve lives, address significant global challenges, and deliver impact at scale,” Gan said.
CEO at LaunchVic, Dr Kate Cornick described The Leaf Protein Co – one the first companies to receive investment from the Hugh Victor McKay Fund – as a high potential start-up.
“Fern and Connor’s team have developed proprietary technology that could unlock one of the planet’s most abundant and sustainable protein sources, and it’s been a pleasure to follow their journey since graduating from the SproutX program in 2021,” Dr Cornick said.
Israeli startup Day 8 recently raised $750,000 pre-seed funding for a similar plant-based ingredient made from leaf protein.
According to Market Research Future, the global plant-based food ingredients market is projected to register a CAGR of 9.88% and reach a value of over USD $21.3 million by 2030.
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