Project Eaden expands seed funding

Investors are giving their money to the company's fiber technology, which turns plants into a meat substitute. Now the startup wants to build a production line.

Berlin-based foodtech Project Eaden is expanding its seed funding to 10.1 million euros. The startup announced the closing of its original eight million euro seed round back in June 2022. At that time, Atlantic Food Labs, Shio Capital, Trellis Road and various business angels such as Godo Rüben, the former CEO of Rügenwalder, among others, participated. Magnetic and Atlantic Food Labs topped up that round by €2.1 million in December, the startup now says.

Project Eaden plans to use the funding mainly to further develop its own fiber technology and build a first prototype production line. The startup wants to revolutionize the meat substitute market. The Project Eaden technology first produces fibers from edible proteins with properties similar to meat. In the next step, the texture and appearance of animal meat will be adopted, the company says. Synthetic fibers have already been successfully tested in the textile and automotive industries, it says. On this basis, the foodtech aims to produce realistic, plant-based meat at low cost. In 2023, Project Eaden aims to market its first product, a steak made from plants.

Materials scientist David Schmelzeisen, Mymuesli founder Hubertus Bessau and ex-Zalando manager Jan Wilmking founded Project Eaden in early 2022. "We have hired a highly motivated team of tissue engineers, food technologists, materials scientists and culinary experts," Wilmking says. "We will build on this and develop our proprietary technology to market readiness."