Germany’s Project Eaden Spins $15.6M in Series A Funding for Ultra-Realistic Pork-Free Ham

German startup Project Eaden has secured €15M ($15.6M) in a Series A funding round to launch its fibre-spun whole-cut in retail, starting with REWE supermarkets nationwide.

Using textile technology to modernise and futureproof the $35B ham market, Berlin-based Project Eaden has raised €15M ($15.6M) in an oversubscribed Series A fundraiser.

The startup, which makes whole-cut plant-based meat with fibre-spinning tech, secured lead investors Planet A Ventures and REWE Group, with support from DeepTech & Climate Fonds, Happiness Capital, AgriFoodTech Venture Alliance, and existing backers Creandum and FoodLabs. This takes Project Eaden’s total funding to date to €27M ($28M), just three years since being established.

Christoph Gras, General Partner of Planet A, said: “Research suggests that plant-based products
could replace 11–22% of global meat consumption by 2035—but only if improvements are made in
taste and texture. Project Eaden is leading this shift with its new fiber technology, which delivers a
meat alternative that will appeal even to the most skeptical consumers. This first-of-a-kind
approach is a crucial step toward decarbonizing the food sector.”

The fresh capital will support scale-up efforts and a European retail launch. Its ham products will debut at 3,800 REWE supermarkets across Germany in early 2025, providing an alternative to the country’s favourite meat (pork). The company will follow this with entry into several other EU markets by the middle of the year.

According to the company, the retailer was won over by Eaden’s ultra-realistic texture and taste. “Project Eaden is setting a new standard in alternative meat by delivering the meat-like experience that today’s consumers crave. As a launch partner, we’re excited to bring their innovative products to our stores,” said Hans-Jürgen Moog, chief procurement officer of REWE Group.

Modern meat inspired by the textile industry

Founded by Dr David Schmelzeisen, Jan Wilmking and Hubertus Bessau in 2022, Project Eaden went viral on the internet when it unveiled its whole-muscle steak and placed it next to conventional beef, with online commentators wondering if the image was doctored.

The Berlin-based company has since expanded its portfolio to create whole-cut sausages, pork loin and, of course, ham. These meat alternatives are derived from an age-old fibre-spinning technology employed by the textile industry. This allows Project Eaden to meet technical requirements like elasticity, water-binding ability and strength to closely mimic animal muscle fibres.

To get here, plant proteins are bundled into strands, and then unfolded in a solution to create a homogenous liquid. This is spun to form ultra-thin fibres, which get integrated into a compound to replicate the collagen-based connective tissues found in animals.

Wilmking, the firm’s managing director, has previously explained that the tech uses two types of fibres. “First, we use strong and thin fibres for connective tissue, which don’t stick together much, but help make the meat structure and bite experience feel real,” he told Green Queen in July.

“Then, a large part of our product is made from a cheaper, juicier fibre that sticks together just enough to hold meat juice in small spaces, making it taste tender and yummy, like real meat,” he added.

The resulting products have been endorsed by butchers, Michelin-starred chefs, and retail buyers. “Our proprietary tech is versatile across meat types, cheap and highly scalable,” said Schmelzeisen, who has a PhD in textile engineering and is also a managing director at the company.

The funding round comes at a challenging time for alternative protein startups, which have suffered from a lack of investor interest. Financing for plant-based companies fell by 24% in 2023, reaching $908M. The fall was even sharper in the first nine months of 2024, when the sector raised a mere $194M.

That said, investors have shown they’re willing to back challenger brands with well-executed products in niche, underserved categories. Paris-based La Vie, for example, closed a €25M ($27.4M) round in October, while Spain’s Heura brought in €40M ($43M) – and both only launched their pork-free ham products in the last 18 monts.

Alongside Project Eaden, these brands also benefit from what is a relatively competition-free space, with only Prime Roots, Squeaky Bean and Quorn the other prominent players making vegan ham.

Germans turn away from meat amid health concerns

Much has been said about the slow sales of meat alternatives globally, but Germany has remained a high-performing outlier. It is the largest market for plant-based meat outside the US, and accounted for 46% of meat alternative sales in Europe’s biggest regions in 2023. These products witnessed a 6% hike in sales to reach €990M and entered over 37% of households.

At the same time, 46% of Germans are cutting back on meat, particularly pork, just as plant-based meat production rises and the new national dietary guidelines recommend a shift away from animal proteins and towards plant-based foods. This is being driven by younger cohorts like Gen Zers, who have been found to be more receptive to meat alternatives than older demographics.

Health is another key factor challenging pork consumption. Processed deli meats such as ham are often packed with nitrates, and the World Health Organization classifies such foods as Type 1 carcinogens. Eaden’s ham products are nitrate-free, as well as free of antibiotics and hormones.

Still, several barriers remain, chief among them palatability. More than 60% of Gen Z consumers in Germany are unsatisfied with the taste and texture of plant-based meat, a number that rises to 80% for Gen Xers and 88% for those aged 69 and above.

Wilmking believes Project Eaden’s whole cuts are solving that: “We are here to make the switch away from animal meat consumption a no-brainer. Our products deliver on taste, texture and nutrition.”

Tackling climate narratives

The other issue is climate. Nearly two in five Germans think the country eats too much meat, and 30% want to increase their plant-based meat intake, though more than half don’t believe meat is a major problem for the climate – despite animal proteins being responsible for 57% of food system emissions (twice as high as plant-based foods).

Project Eaden hopes to change this narrative – each kg of its products reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 20kg of CO2e, cuts water use by as much as 56 cubic metres, and lowers land use by up to 20 sq m.

The company will now expand its team across sales, marketing, operations and engineering, and is also working on broadening its range to more cuts, including Serrano and cooked ham, bratwurst, bacon, chicken breast, pastrami, and beef and pork flank steaks.

Another startup making fibre-spun meat analogues is Massachusetts-based Tender Foods, which likens its production process to spinning cotton candy. The company has raised $23M since it launched in 2020, and its fried chicken and pork are on the menu at meat-free chain Clover Food Lab.