Ferm Labs Raises €3M to Scale Its Clean-Label Food Ingredient Platform

Swiss-Italian foodtech startup Ferm Labs has raised €3 million in seed funding to scale its proprietary bioprocessing platform and expand its portfolio of clean-label ingredients for the global food industry.

Founded in 2025, Ferm Labs is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, with its R&D and production operations in Bolzano, Italy. The company was founded by Stephanie Lüpold, CEO, and Mattia Baroni, CTO, who are building a new generation of B2B flavour solutions for food manufacturers.

Turning Side Streams Into Ingredients

Ferm Labs uses controlled microbial fermentation and non-GMO microorganisms to transform low-value food-industry side streams into high-value flavour ingredients. Its technology is designed to accelerate fermentation from weeks to hours while delivering high yields.

The platform produces potent kokumi peptide profiles that can be developed into stable, clean-label flavour pastes and powders without E-numbers, added fats, or high sodium levels.

Kokumesan Targets the Cheese Market

The company’s flagship ingredient, Kokumesan, is produced from liquid whey and is designed to deliver the depth and character associated with aged cheese.

Ferm Labs says Kokumesan can reduce conventional raw cheese inclusion in formulations from around 20% to below 1%, potentially delivering up to 75% savings in cost-in-use without sensory degradation.

The ingredient is also designed for high processability, helping reduce fat and sodium build-up that can cause equipment clogging while supporting longer shelf life.

€3M Funding to Accelerate Growth

The seed round was led by CDP Venture Capital SGR through its Green Transition Fund, financed by NextGenerationEU. Fund F, Redstone, in collaboration with Euregio+ and Alpine VC, and Loacker Group also participated.

Ferm Labs plans to use the funding to expand its bioprocessing capacity in South Tyrol, strengthen its European B2B sales force, and increase R&D capacity for new product categories.

With food manufacturers increasingly seeking natural, sustainable and cost-efficient flavour solutions, Ferm Labs is positioning its fermentation platform to deliver stronger flavour while reducing dependence on expensive conventional ingredients.