Vivici Earns $14.4M EU Funding to Expand Animal-Free Dairy Protein Platform

Dutch precision fermentation startup Vivici has secured €12.5M ($14.4M) in funding from the European Innovation Council to scale up and expand its footprint for cow-free whey proteins.

A year after raising €32.5M in a Series A round, Dutch food tech firm Vivici has now become the beneficiary of funding from the EU.

The precision-fermented dairy protein maker has obtained €12.5M ($14.4M) in funding from the European Innovation Council’s (EIC) 2026 accelerator programme.

The EU-backed scheme provides blended finance – a mix of grants and equity investment – for startups or SMEs with high-impact products, services and business models that can viably be scaled up, and create new or disrupt existing markets in Europe and beyond.

Vivici was one of 38 businesses selected from 87 proposals, with the overall investment totalling €90M for the grants, and a further €202M provisioned for potential equity investments.

The Dutch startup will use the capital to expand the supply and market access for its animal-free whey protein ingredients, marketed under the Vivitein brand.

Making beta-lactoglobulin and lactoferrin with precision fermentation

Precision fermentation involves introducing DNA into microbes to teach them to produce specific molecules during fermentation. Vivici uses the tech to manufacture recombinant whey proteins.

Its flagship ingredient is Vivitein BLG, a bioidentical version of beta-lactoglobulin, the main whey protein found in milk. It’s revered for its gelling, foaming and binding properties, contains all essential amino acids, and is clear in colour and neutral in flavour.

The ingredient makes an ideal base for meal replacements, functional beverages, nutrition bars, and dairy and alternative products at levels of up to 50% by weight. It can also be used in desserts, confectionery, fillings, bakery mixes, and meat, fish and egg analogues.

From a climate perspective, it offers 66% lower emissions, 86% less water consumption, and 61% less land use than conventional beta-lactoglobulin.

And earlier this year, Vivici unveiled Vivitein LF, its second whey protein. This is an animal-free version of the iron-regulating glycoprotein, lactoferrin, which optimises the microbiome balance, strengthens the gut barrier, restricts undesirable bacteria, and prevents gut inflammation.

Vivici’s lactoferrin has 95% purity, can fit into an array of health and wellness products for consumers, including the performance recovery, gut health, women’s wellbeing, and sustained vitality verticals.

It mobilises iron to enhance uptake by the body (addressing a key deficiency for many women), working with both dietary iron and supplements, and reduces digestive discomfort. For athletes and those with active lifestyles, the precision-fermented lactoferrin fights inflammation, speeds up recovery and return to exercise, and lowers the risk of injury.

Both of Vivici’s whey proteins have been cleared for sale in the US, with the startup eyeing applications for protein shots, clear drinks, ready-to-eat snacks, and ready-to-mix powders for its beta-lactoglobulin, and functional shots, ready-to-mix beverages, dietary supplements and gummies for the lactoferrin (which is set to enter the market next year).

Vivici’s EIC funding comes amid whey protein shortage

Headquartered at the Biotech Campus Delft, Vivici has a dairy protein application lab in the Food Valley at NIZO Food Research. It is working with co-manufacturers in Europe and the US to produce on a commercial scale, and has tested its process in a 75,000-litre fermenter at the Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant (BBEPP).

The EIC Accelerator funding sits within its wider business plan, set to unlock the full potential of its technology and sustainably scale up its whey proteins, offering innovative alternatives to a heavily stressed ingredient.

The sustained appetite for high-protein products has sent the whey protein market into a frenzy. Manufacturers are struggling to meet demand – in the US, contracts have been sold well into 2026, and some supplies are sold out for the rest of the year.

Whey prices broke records in 2025, and have kept on surging since. Over the last two years, the cost of whey protein concentrate has risen by 108%, and whey protein isolate has nearly doubled in price.

Using precision fermentation can eliminate the reliance on the cheese industry, which whey is a co-product of, and plug the supply-demand gap, offering manufacturers and consumers a more stable form of their favourite protein.

“Securing the support of the EIC is a powerful endorsement of what we are building at Vivici,” said Vivici CEO Stephan van Sint Fiet. “It tells us that Europe sees the same opportunity we do, to turn the promise of precision fermentation into a commercial reality, at scale, for the benefit of customers and consumers. This funding allows us to move faster on exactly that.”

Simon Penfold, the firm’s chief commercial officer, added: “Customer demand for our ingredients is already strong, and this backing lets us meet it with the supply and pace the market expects.”