Those Vegan Cowboys Completes $14M Raise After Record-Breaking Crowdfunding Round

Dutch food tech startup Those Vegan Cowboys has raised €12.25M ($14.2M) in its latest investment round, following a record-breaking crowdfunding campaign for its animal-free casein.

It took just 10 days for Those Vegan Cowboys to complete its new investment drive, which welcomed over 1,850 crowd investors collectively pumping €4M ($4.6M) into the precision fermentation startup.

The crowdfunding campaign on Invesdor adds to the €6.25M ($7.3M) the firm raised in December, which itself has been extended with another €2M ($2.3M) from a privately-owned impact fund.

Together, it takes Those Vegan Cowboys’s latest funding effort to €12.25M ($14.2M) from equity and crowdfunding (which included participation from dairy farmers and cheesemakers), and will allow it to finetune its animal-free casein proteins in preparation for industrial-scale production.

Casein is the main protein group found in dairy, and is crucial to the taste and mouthfeel of products like cheese, helping them melt and stretch when heated. Casein proteins self-organise into highly hydrated spherical structures called micelles, which serve as a building block for the functional and nutritional attributes of dairy.

“We target to produce very functional caseins that can be applied in various applications (cheese, chocolate, yoghurt, whiteners, drinks, etc.),” CEO Hille van der Kaa tells Green Queen. “Even without micelle formation, this can be done. If needed, one can also use our caseins to form micelles.”

Those Vegan Cowboys expects US launch in 2026

Precision fermentation involves inserting a specific DNA sequence into microbes to instruct them to produce desired molecules when fermented. Those Vegan Cowboys uses the tech to disrupt the $2.7B casein market, which represents a highly emissive, water-guzzling, land-hungry industry.

Its recombinant casein requires just a fifth of the land and water, with up to 95% lower carbon emissions and no methane emissions. Its microbial protein outperforms conventional casein on functionality, too, stretching five times more and at a lower melting point.

The startup is already working with over 10 food companies, including dairy majors Westland Kaas and Hochland, to produce cheese and milk chocolate products with its cow-free casein.

“We are working with different partners on different types of cheeses, such as burger cheese and mozzarella. In-house, we have also built up extensive expertise in making cheeses like Camembert and feta. In addition, we have recently started developing aged cheeses,” notes van der Kaa.

“With chocolate, we are currently working on chocolate bars, but development will also expand to specific applications such as bonbons and coatings. Earlier development has shown that animal-free casein provides good functionality, including the characteristic ‘snap’ of chocolate.”

Those Vegan Cowboys has already self-affirmed its casein as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) in the US, enabling it to sell the ingredient in the country. It is now pursuing a ‘no questions’ letter from the Food and Drug Administration.

“We expect to enter the US market later this year with one of our partners. Which product we will launch with is something we are currently still exploring,” says van der Kaa. “We will also be filing in Singapore, Europe, and the UK in the near term.”

New precision fermentation facility in the works

The crowdfunding campaign saw Those Vegan Cowboys raise €1M within the first hour, with the first-day total reaching €2.5M. “We have never seen an equity crowdfunding campaign on Invesdor start this fast. Raising €2M in one day is unique, and €1M in one hour is a record,” said Ellen Hensbergen, Invesdor’s investment manager.

Aside from identifying caseins with improved functionalities, the capital will help the firm expand its partnerships and speed up process development and validation from small- to large-scale production.

As part of this effort, Those Vegan Cowboys is planning the construction of its first dedicated manufacturing plant with a strategic partner, which is expected to start in 2028. The facility is set to cost around €100M, to be split equally between the two entities.

Half of the Dutch startup’s share is expected to be financed through senior debt, and it’s planning further equity raises of €15M in 2028 and €25M in 2029 for the capex and its ongoing operations. That said, alternative options like a licensing model, full ownership, or other partnership structures, remain open.

Moreover, Those Vegan Cowboys is gearing up for public tastings of its products in the Netherlands, which has become the first EU country to approve such events for precision-fermented foods before they’re cleared for sale.

“We hope to organise this later this year. The application process to make it happen is taking more time than expected. However, we will be showcasing our products at our first trade fair in early April,” says van der Kaa.

How Those Vegan Cowboys attracted investors in a bleak funding climate

Those Vegan Cowboys’s fundraising success goes against the grain of the wider alternative protein sector, which saw a 20% decline in investment last year, recording its lowest total in seven years ($881M). And after an uptick in 2024, funding for fermentation startups fell by nearly 44%, totalling $357M.

“What we chose to do was raise funding only after we had proven results, specifically once our technology had been validated by our partners. This acceptance by the market gave our investors confidence,” van der Kaa says when asked how her company bucked the investment trend.

“At the same time, we have always operated very frugally and managed to achieve a great deal with relatively little funding. Investors tend to appreciate that discipline,” she adds.

“From the very beginning, we have been very open about what we are doing, and we like to let people look along with us. In doing so, you start building a network of ambassadors early on, which also helped a lot with our crowdfunding.

“But above all, a technology like ours fits into many different ‘baskets’. Even if sustainability is not at the top of the global agenda everywhere right now, our work is also highly relevant in the category of food security. In an uncertain world, that matters. In any era, in any environment, producing proteins in a sustainable way is always a good idea.”

Those Vegan Cowboys is one of only two active startups cleared to sell precision-fermented casein in the US, the other being California’s New Culture. Others in this space include Standing Ovation, Fooditive Group, and Eden Brew.

Meanwhile, Australia’s All G is using the tech to develop human milk beta-casein for infant nutrition, and this week secured an A$1M ($1.1M) grant from the New South Wales government to accelerate its progress.