Vegan biodesign startup raises $91 million for extensive animal-free collagen and gelatin production

Image: Geltor / Instagram

Mohsina Dodhiya28th July 20209th October 2020Food, Health, News

‘Our goal is to make it ridiculously easy for iconic brands to build sustainable products’

Vegan collagen manufacturer Geltor has raised $91.3 million in a Series B investment round led by alternative protein investor CPT Capital.

The Silicon Valley biodesign startup, which makes animal free bioavailable proteins, intends to use the new capital to expand its ingredients-as-a-service platform globally and help more companies build sustainable products.

“We saw this opportunity to find some new partners and grow the platform to essentially help more brands build a sustainable product,” CEO Alexander Lorestani told Crunchbase News.

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The company based in San Leandro, California, was co-founded by Alex Lorestani and Nick Ouzounov in 2015 and has created several 100% animal-free proteins including collagen, elastin and gelatin with biocompatibility, functionality and benefits for consumers.

Despite last year’s African swine fever and this year’s COVID-19 disrupting several industries, Geltor has experienced a significant sales increase. It reportedly scaled its technology platform up 100 times producing hundreds of new animal-free proteins that are resilient against disease-driven disruption.

In fact, demand for Geltor’s initial animal-free collagens, including HumaColl21 and Collume has grown by 25% over the past year.

‘Huge market potential’

“We see huge market potential for Geltor’s protein platform across categories from cosmetics to food. We are excited by the speed and skill with which they are building out their capabilities,” said Costa Yiannoulis, Director of CPT Capital Investment.

“Even more so, in light of the havoc wreaked by COVID-19 on protein supply chains globally, we believe Geltor is laying the foundations for the sustainable, resilient, protein supply chain of the future.”

According to Meticulous Market Research, the global alternative protein market is expected to grow at a 9.5% CAGR from 2019 to reach $17.9 billion by 2025.

‘Ingredients-as-a-Service’

Commenting on the funding round and the need for developing products with sustainable ingredients, Lorestani said: “Our goal is to make it ridiculously easy for iconic brands to build sustainable products.

“This next stage of growth will allow Geltor to meet the moment our world is facing, as businesses recognize the urgent need to transition to a sustainable protein supply chain.”

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“We’re grateful to have investors who see Geltor as an index of this important shift to a system powered by fermentation and plant-based platforms like ours,” he added.

“As a scientist, I’m convinced that the highest-impact action I can take to support human and planetary health is making our Ingredients-as-a-Service platform better every single day.”