REDUCED, a company based in Copenhagen, has secured €6 million in funding led by Novo Holdings, with contributions from Einar Willumsen, EIFO, and Rockstart Agrifood. They specialize in using fermentation technology to turn food and agriculture side streams into natural food ingredients. The funding will help them enhance their technology, expand their range of savoury ingredients, secure production capacity, acquire certifications, and boost sales and marketing efforts. This investment will enable REDUCED to grow its product line, reduce CO2 emissions, and maximize the use of food production side streams.
Since REDUCED was founded in 2020 by William Anton Lauf Olsen & Emil Munck de Voss, the Company has developed proprietary processes that use novel fermentation technology to derive unique umami flavours from food industry side streams at a lower cost, due to shortened process time scales, and with a significantly lower CO2 impact.
Rooted in gastronomy, REDUCED’s Head of Research & Development, Lorenzo Tirelli, and Head of Product, Bram Kerkhof, both previously worked in the fermentation lab of the internationally acclaimed Danish restaurant Noma, which was frequently rated as one of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants1.
REDUCED’s technology enables the extraction of the savoury umami flavours from both vegetable and animal side streams and convert them using fermentation into clean label ingredients. The global market for savoury food ingredients is estimated to be worth more than EUR 31.5 billion, and EUR 8.8 billion for global clean label savoury flavourings2.
REDUCED’s wide range of products include organic chicken stock concentrates made from retired laying hens, and a stock concentrate made from vegetables that don’t meet the strict appearance or size criteria of supermarkets, along with fermented umami sauces which add complexity and a lingering aftertaste to food.
REDUCED currently supplies more than 100 food service businesses and delivers ingredients to food manufacturers in collaboration with leading food ingredient suppliers.
Emil Munck de Voss, Co-Founder & CEO of REDUCED, said: “This investment will be transformative for the Company as we expand and extend the range of products we can offer, drawing on our gastronomic heritage to create unique flavours. Not only will this bring great new products to the market, but it will also help to reduce CO2 emissions and make the most of the side streams available in the food production chain. We are ready to continue the work we have started and accelerate the impact we can make on the food industry.”
Thomas Grotkjær, Partner, Bioindustrial Investments, Novo Holdings commented: “REDUCED brings an exciting combination of strong Nordic cuisine and fermentation technology to the growing trend of sustainability in food production. With delicious natural products, that are already in demand from over 100 customers, we are pleased to support the REDUCED team in their journey from innovative start-up to industrial scale.”
Jan Grøndal, Chief Executive Officer, Einar Willumsen said: “REDUCED has the potential to make a significant impact in the food ingredients industry and we want to be a part of that. We are impressed by the Company’s ability to convert technology to commercial products and their approach to flavour creation. In Denmark, we have a tradition for creating high-value food ingredients companies, and we strongly believe REDUCED could be the next one.”
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Originally published on ArcticStartup : Original article