Valio invests in the Swedish cellular agriculture startup Melt&Marble, which uses precision fermentation to develop fat raw materials for the food industry, for example. Melt&Marble raised a total of more than 7 million in funding from Valio and other investors, with the aim of scaling production and bringing the company's first products to market.
Valio is involved in developing cellular agriculture solutions as part of the company’s five-year Food 2.0 project launched in 2024. The project is funded by Business Finland and aims to renew the food system. In the food system of the future, we will need food produced through animal, plant, and cellular agriculture in order to feed the global population.
“Cellular agriculture opens up entirely new opportunities to improve the taste and other qualities of products. To advance cellular agriculture solutions, collaboration between established players and start-up companies is essential. At the same time, new product and technology innovations create opportunities for the growth of the Finnish food sector through exports,” says Harri Kallioinen, Valio’s Senior Vice President for Research and Development.
Melt&Marble develops, among other things, highly customized fats for the food industry to achieve the desired properties of the products. At the same time, palm oil, coconut fat and shea fat, for example, can be replaced. These involve a wide range of sustainability challenges, which is why the industry is looking for alternatives to them. Melt&Marble solves these challenges and at the same time provides its customers with raw ingredients tailored to their application.
”With this round of funding, Melt&Marble is moving from research and development to commercialization. Our vision is to produce more sustainable and better performing ingredients, and now we are one step closer,” says Anastasia Krivoruchko, CEO of Melt&Marble.
Other investors in the Melt&Marble funding round include Industrifonden, Beiersdorf, Chalmers Ventures, Catalyze Capital and the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund.
At the beginning of the year, Valio and Melt&Marble launched long-term cooperation in research and product development. The aim of the cooperation is to take the organoleptic properties and nutritional content of Valio’s plant-based products to a whole new level by utilising tailored fat raw materials produced by Melt&Marble. A new type of fat on the European market requires a novel food authorisation, which Melt&Marble applies for from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). New products are expected on the shelf a few years from now.
”Food produced using cellular agriculture is an essential part of the food system of the future. The tailor-made greases from Melt&Marble offer us very great opportunities to develop new, interesting products. We are excited to enable Melt&Marble’s development and production scaling,” says Susanna Kallio, Vice President at Valio.
About Melt&Marble
Melt&Marble is a pioneering company dedicated to enabling the transition towards a more sustainable future by revolutionising the production of fats. Using advanced microbial engineering and precision fermentation, Melt&Marble produces tailored fats from simple feedstocks, without relying on unsustainable animal or plant sources. These next-generation ingredients are designed for superior sustainability, performance, and health profiles across industries.
The company’s platform, built on over a decade of research and protected by a robust IP portfolio, enables the creation of both bio-identical and novel fats. Melt&Marble’s initial focus is on delivering functional and sustainable fat solutions to the alternative protein and personal care sectors. For further information, see https://www.meltandmarble.com/
