50 million US dollars for artificial cheese

Formo closes its Series A financing round and is now planning to expand its cheese range.

Berlin-based cheese start-up Formo has successfully completed its Series A financing round. The company was able to raise 50 million US dollars, as reported by the US news service Bloomberg . EQT Ventures led the round, with Elevat3 Capital and Lowercarbon Capital also participating.

Formo is working on a method to produce cheese without cow's milk. The company extracts milk proteins from microorganisms. These proteins form the cheese base from which Formo currently produces mozzarella and ricotta. With the new funding, cheddar and gruyère cheese are now to be added to the range. "We want to open up the focus and really make sure that we can cover pretty much every type of cheese you can think of," Formo founder and CEO Raffael Wohlgensinger told Bloomberg.

Initially, Formo is aiming for a market launch in Singapore, with Israel, the Middle East and finally Europe to follow. The start-up sees great opportunities in Asia in particular. Formo cheese does not contain any lactose, which accommodates the widespread lactose intolerance there.