A pioneering company that creates healthy, sustainable food has received a £3.5 million investment to scale up its ingredients technology.
Fats and oils make foods texturally appealing and tastier by adding 'lubricity' and a 'creamy' mouthfeel. However, they also increase calorie content.
MicroLub, a spinout from University of Leeds research, has developed unique 'scaffolds', made of protein and water and coated by polysaccharides, that replace fats and oils without losing the mouthfeel experience.
Northern Gritstone has led a combined £3.5m seed round investment into MicroLub alongside co-investors, LIFTT and NPIF II – Praetura Equity Finance.
MicroLub already has strong traction with some of the largest food companies and will now be able to test further applications of its technology.
We are proud of our track record of transforming academic research into commercial success."
Obesity contributes to a projected global annual health bill of £3.3 trillion, and over half the world's population is on course to be overweight or obese within the next decade, according to the World Obesity Federation.
MicroLub aims not only to make foods healthier, but to drive sustainability by supporting the alternative protein industry in making plant-based foods less astringent.
Northern Gritstone - an investment company launched in 2021 by the Universities of Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield – is dedicated to supporting science and technology-enabled businesses in the North of England, including spinouts from its founding university partners.
Earlier this year it backed another University of Leeds spinout adsilico to scale up its ground-breaking work and accelerate life-saving benefits for patients.
Professor Nick Plant, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Innovation at the University of Leeds, said: "This groundbreaking research is addressing a major global challenge while placing the UK at the forefront of the quest to reduce health inequalities. We are proud of our track record of transforming academic research into commercial success."
Professor Anwesha Sarkar, Founder of MicroLub, said: "When we discovered the technology and tested lubricity, we knew it had many potential applications, which we can now explore with this investment led by Northern Gritstone."
David Peters, CEO of MicroLub said: "There is a huge market opportunity in food for MicroLub. We already have strong traction with ingredients giants and some of the largest food and dairy companies, who are looking for innovative ways to make their products healthier, more nutritious and more sustainable. I am very excited at the journey ahead with our customers."
Duncan Johnson, CEO of Northern Gritstone, said: "Northern Gritstone is delighted to support MicroLub's world-class team. Obesity is a challenge in many countries reducing the quality of life of an individual and often shortening it. MicroLub shows that innovation coming out of the University of Leeds has the potential to help solve these global challenges."
In August this year, it was announced that a £38m National Alternative Protein Innovation Centre (NAPIC), dedicated to developing planet-friendly alternatives to animal proteins, will be hosted by the University of Leeds and co-led by the James Hutton Institute, the University of Sheffied and Imperial College London.
