Maia Farms Secures $2.3M to Advance Climate Positive Food with Highly Nutritious Mycoprotein – vegconomist
Vancouver-based Maia Farms, a B2B producer of the mycoprotein and winner of the Deep Space Food Challenge Grand Prize with its ingredient CanPro, announces it has secured $2.3 million in a pre-seed funding round.
CanPro, a textured protein ingredient made with mycelium, is said to “dramatically” improve the taste and texture of food products while providing nutritional and sustainability benefits. It is rich in proteins, contains fiber, calcium, and 5.5 times more iron than beef, and requires only a tenth of the land needed to produce an equivalent amount of beef.
With the newly raised capital, the Canadian innovator will accelerate its R&D activities, scale up operations, and grow its market reach.
A climate-positive food system
The Californian VC Joyful Ventures, PIC Investing Group from Saskatchewan, and Alberta’s Koan Capital led the round. Alongside this equity investment, the startup has received grant funding from several top institutions, totaling over $2 million in raised funds.
“Mycelium has a bright future for a more climate-positive, global food system”
The organizations backing the startup include the Canadian Food Innovation Network, the National Research Council of Canada, the SFU BC Centre for Agritech Innovation, MITACS, and the Canadian Space Agency.
Jennifer Stojkovic, General Partner and co-founder at Joyful Ventures, shares, “Not only were we impressed by Maia’s mycelium protein, but we especially resonated with the scalability and viability of their technological innovations. Mycelium has a bright future for a more climate-positive, global food system.”
Farming ethical proteins
Gavin Schneider, Ashton Ostrander, and Dr. Sean Lacoursire founded Maia Farms in 2021 to “farm ethical proteins.”
Leveraging biomass fermentation and sophisticated bioreactor technology, the startup grows an undisclosed fungi strain using sugar from waste side streams as feed.
The end product is a dry and shelf-stable ingredient described as nutritious and easily digestible, offering a neutral taste with umami afternotes and a meat-like texture. It can be used for meat alternatives, protein bars, snacks, and other foods. If produced at scale, it can be more affordable than animal proteins.
Reportedly, the company has patented its production process, bioreactor design, and different feedstocks they can work with. It is also looking into partnering with fermentation CDMOs for manufacturing. CanPro is available today in commercial volumes in North America.
Meaningful impact
Very recently, Maia Farms and the Canadian company Ecoation won the Deep Space Food Challenge for implementing a system to grow CanPro and fresh produce in small units. The system is capable of producing 700 kg of food annually to nourish astronauts in space or sustain populations in the most isolated regions on Earth.
CEO Schneider comments, “This funding not only validates our fermentation approach but also strengthens our capacity to make a meaningful impact. We’re excited to push the boundaries of what’s possible in the food sector and to lead the way towards a more sustainable and nourishing future.”
