Enifer raises €36 million to introduce fungi-based solutions to the pet industry

Enifer received a capital injection of €36 million ($39M) for the construction of a facility to produce its proprietary mycoprotein PEKILO, a sustainable fungi-based protein for human and pet food applications.

The factory will be located in the municipality of Kirkkonummi, 30 km from Helsinki, and is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2025. The annual production capacity is expected to reach 3,000 tons of mycoprotein or 500 kilograms per hour.

Headquartered in the Finnish city of Espoo, the start-up states that mycoprotein is “the missing ingredient” for a more sustainable food chain and that it aims to make it “a cornerstone of protein supply” by opening more factories down the line. 

Pet application

This recent funding will enable Enifer to enter the pet food market with its mycoprotein, which has already been approved for animal nutrition in Europe.

According to Co-Founder and COO Joosu Kuivanen, the ingredient has a “differentiating factor” from plant and insect proteins due to its amino acid composition and fungal beta-glucan properties that aid high digestibility and well-being in pets. 

To expand its market reach, the company will seek regulatory approval in other geographical regions, such as the US. 

“We are already planning larger production facilities that would focus exclusively on producing PEKILO® mycoprotein ingredients targeted to animal nutrition, which would enable us to lower our production costs and offer even more competitive prices,” notes Kuivanen.

The ingredient, made of 60% crude protein, will be available in a shelf-stable dry and powdered form with a neutral taste for use in dry and wet dog food products.

Enifer previously received a €12 million ($13M) recycling and reuse investment grant from the NextGenerationEU program by the European Union.