Paleo raises fresh seed round after cutting myoglobin costs 613-fold
What's the deal? Belgian precision fermentation company Paleo has secured a seed round led by existing investor Beyond Impact VCDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, chief executive officer and co-founder Hermes Sanctorum disclosed in a LinkedIn update. The size of the round was not announced.
What's the endgame? Paleo, founded in 2020, uses precision fermentation to produce animal-free myoglobin, the protein that gives meat its color, flavor and aroma and supplies bioavailable heme iron. Sanctorum said the company will use the money to "advance our regulatory submissions and deepen strategic collaborations with commercial partners."
Why now? The financing follows a hard stretch for Paleo and the wider alternative protein sector. In October 2025, the company restructured and refocused operations amid challenging market and financing conditions.
During that period, Sanctorum said, Paleo kept making technical progress — including a 613-fold cut in production costs over two years and production at large scale. It has not disclosed the resulting cost, fermentation volumes or other scale-up figures.
How it works: Paleo's myoglobin corresponds to proteins found in beef, pork, chicken, lamb and fish, and the final ingredient is free of GMO. Used at less than 1% of a finished product by weight, it gives uncooked plant-based meat a red appearance and contributes grilled, metallic flavors during cooking.
The company has also moved from a liquid to a powdered format, which chief business officer Pierre Donck said improved stability and handling while removing the need for cold-chain logistics. Paleo has run trials with food industry partners since late 2024, including a publicly announced collaboration with Austrian food-tech firm Revo FoodsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
The signal: Paleo's raise shows investors will still back alternative protein startups that can point to hard cost and scale-up gains, even after a brutal funding stretch. With a low inclusion rate and no cold chain, the pitch now hinges on economics as much as taste.
Read more: proteinproductiontechnology.com
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