Fund Management
Milltrust Bets On "Smart Protein" Revolution

The fund taps into trends that are re-shaping how food is produced and brought to the table, such as what are called "smart proteins" – a term covering entities such as cultivated meats, plant-based proteins and fermentation techniques.
Milltrust Ventures, the venture investment arm of Milltrust
International, the group with co-headquarters in London
and Singapore, has launched a fund investing in what is called
“smart protein.”
The term refers to food products which
replace animal-derived meat, seafood, eggs, and dairy. These
alternatives are focused on delivering the same cultural and
sensory experiences as animal-derived foods.
The Smart Protein Fund has been launched in partnership with
Earth First Food Ventures, a specialist food tech venture capital
platform with a presence in Switzerland, the US, India, Brazil,
and Greece.
The fund will invest in companies that focus on plant-based
proteins, cultivated meat, and fermentation technologies, as well
as the infrastructure that will help scale this industry.
“Timing is everything and investments in this growing industry
are being repriced as commercial viability becomes a reality. Its
continued acceleration, moving from R&D to growth at scale,
will allow us to produce healthier, lower impact proteins in line
with accelerating demand,” Simon Hopkins, CEO of Milltrust
International Group, said. (This news service talked to Hopkins
about agricultural technology, innovation and environmental
concerns here.)
The offering builds on Milltrust’s first investment in
alternative protein in 2016, when the firm provided seed capital
and helped found Roslin Technologies, an Edinburgh-based food and
ag tech company.
“By 2035, alternative proteins will very likely capture 11 per
cent of the global protein market through organic growth, as
consumers, companies, and investors push the values of ESG and
parity. And we predict the market for alternatives to meat,
especially chicken and seafood, could increase significantly
higher still, rising from 2 per cent of total protein consumption
in 2020 to more than 20 per cent by 2035, with government support
which we are beginning to see today,” Brian Ruszczyk, CEO of
Earth First Food Ventures, said.
Alexander Kalis, managing partner at Milltrust International,
said: “It’s often conveniently forgotten that the food industry
represents 26 per cent of global GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions,
more than all forms of transport combined.”