April 14, 2021

By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media 

The Finnish Climate Fund has made its first investment, committing €10 Million to Solar Foods, a novel startup producing nutritionally complete protein from thin air. 

Founded in Helsinki in 2017 as a spin-off from a VTT Technical Research Center of Finland and LUT University of Finland research program, Solar Foods uses a unique bioprocess similar to that used to make beer or wine to create natural protein using only air and electricity as raw materials.

Using renewable energy and air-captured carbon dioxide (CO2) in a complete and continuous mode, the company makes Solein®, an entirely novel type of nutrient-rich protein that has the potential to revolutionize food production, as it’s not reliant on agriculture, requires no irrigation, pesticides, fertilizers, open land, or animals, nor is it at the whims of the weather.

This sustainable and natural product contains all essential amino acids, is approximately 65 percent protein, carbs, and fats, has a light taste and appearance, can be easily mixed into any meal, and can be produced in any conditions including deserts, the Arctic, or even in space. (The company is collaborating with the European Space Agency to explore applications for Solein by astronauts.)

“Solein vanishes into daily meals, while at the same time maintaining its rich nutritional value and offering a unified solution that caters to virtually every imaginable meal of today and tomorrow,” said Juha-Pekka Pitkänen, CTO and co-founder, Solar Foods.

Now at the commercialization stage with industrial-scale production of Solein about to begin, the capital secured from The Finnish Climate Fund will be used by Solar to construct a demonstration facility currently in the design phase that will include a Solein Experience Hub and a future-food bar to provide visitors the next level of transparency in food production.

“The mission of the Climate Fund is to boost significant climate solutions into an industrial scale in order to participate in supporting the carbon neutrality targets of the EU and Finland,” said Paula Laine, CEO, The Finnish Climate Fund. “By taking part in the investment, we’ll enable Solar Foods’ factory sooner and thus opening a faster path to emissions reductions.”

“We are happy that we can soon put the Solein protein on the plates of consumers,” said Pasi Vainikka, CEO and co-founder, Solar Foods. “Our first production facility will be located in Finland, and it will be the world’s first commercial facility to produce food by using carbon dioxide and electricity as it’s raw materials.”

“We want to disconnect food production from the accelerating consumption of natural resources,” continued Vainikka. “It is fascinating to be part of making this happen. We already have detailed plans for the production facility, but we will disclose more about them towards the end of the year when construction begins.”

The company stated that the introduction of industrial scale climate-friendly protein production will be nothing short of revolutionary. Not only is it more sustainable with Solien’s comparative greenhouse gas emission totaling only 1 percent of those generated by meat protein, and 20 percent of those generated by plant-based protein production, but this entirely new way of producing protein has the power to change land use, mitigate soil degradation, increase biodiversity, and improve the condition of water systems.

“New technologies open windows into the wall behind which the future exists,” said Vainikka. “We are suddenly seeing possibilities we couldn’t have imagined just a few years ago. The everyday production of Solein is already a tangible reality. We at Solar Foods are ‘possibilists’—we encourage and empower people to be part of the solution, to create a better world through better nutritional choices.”

“Our vision is to change the way food is produced. The world has hope. The food of the future is no longer a utopia, it is already being produced.”

– Lynda Kiernan is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain News. She can be reached at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.