NoPalm Ingredients secures € 5M to accelerate scale up and deliver sustainable palm oil alternative globally
The funding round was led by Rubio Impact Ventures, with significant participation from Fairtree Elevant Ventures, Oost NL, Willow Capital Investments, and The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO).
Wageningen, 24rd July 2024 - NoPalm Ingredients, the pioneering Dutch biotechnology company producing yeast oils, announced the successful closure of a € 5 million Seed funding round. The funding round was led by Rubio Impact Ventures, one of Europe’s foremost impact venture capital firms, and co-led by Oost NL, Fairtree Elevant Ventures, and family office Willow Capital Investments with participation from The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and other private investors. The investment will accelerate the company's mission to provide a local, circular, and sustainable solution for the global palm oil market.
Press release and press kit are available here.
Technology and Innovation
Founded in 2021 by Lars Langhout and Professor Dr. Jeroen Hugenholtz, NoPalm Ingredients aims to address the environmental and supply chain challenges of conventional palm oil, which is found in 60% of supermarket products. NoPalm Ingredients employs a unique fermentation process using non-GMO proprietary yeasts combined with a patented low-capex technology. This process transforms upcycled, locally-sourced agri-food sidestreams, such as potato peels and whey permeate, into yeast oils. Feedback from customers indicates that NoPalm Ingredients’ oils are an ideal drop-in replacement for palm oil, requiring no recipe reformulation and achieving price parity. This is made possible by the use of agri-food sidestreams and an asset-light technology that is quick to scale. Additionally, the technology also boasts a 90% reduction in CO2 emissions and a 99% decrease in land use compared to traditional palm oil production. NoPalm has proven their oil quality with pilot partners including industry giants Colgate-Palmolive, Unilever, and Zeelandia.
“Palm oil is cheap, incredibly versatile and widely used in almost every fast-moving consumer good, from your toothpaste to my newborn’s infant formula. The problem is that global demand for palm oil grows by 4% annually, and there’s no strategy to meet the additional 22 million tons needed by 2030 without clearing rainforests 1.5 times the size of Ireland. With new regulations banning deforestation-related products, European companies can only source sustainably certified palm oil, which excludes 83% of current supplies. This will drive price increases that will affect every family in Europe. Often, the answer isn’t to prohibit a product but to step back and create a superior alternative that naturally compels a switch. This funding is pivotal for us to demonstrate large-scale production and reach our next milestone of producing 1,5 million kilograms of sustainable oil annually, solidifying our role as a trusted partner in the food and personal care industries. We are on track for industrialization and commercialization in 2025.”
“Rubio is excited to back NoPalm Ingredients’ mission to enable palm-free and sustainable alternatives for billions of everyday supermarket products. Palm oil driven land use change threatens catastrophic loss of richly biodiverse equatorial rainforests and is responsible for more emissions every year than the entire airline industry. Companies like NoPalm Ingredients are critical to preventing further pressure on our strained planetary boundaries.”
“NoPalm Ingredients has demonstrated the ability to make a cost-effective drop-in replacement for palm oil and other lipids that we believe will revolutionise the industry, address the massive environmental challenge of palm oil production and harvesting as well as solve myriad supply chain pain points for customers. Further, NoPalm Ingredients’ innovation allows them to upcycle industrial food waste streams which recovers carbon and creates value from waste, creating tremendous benefit. NoPalm Ingredients has demonstrated both the technical capabilities as well as the commercial partnerships to rapidly scale their technology and make an incredible impact across a wide swathe of industry and we look forward to support them on this exciting journey ahead.”
“NoPalm Ingredients is a leading pioneer from the Foodvalley ecosystem that is shaping the Dutch and European alternative oils and fats landscape, to create a more sustainable Food system. Their business model is innovative and appealing to both suppliers and customers and has a clear positive impact on the environment. We’re proud to invest in the innovative team of NoPalm Ingredients.”
About NoPalm Ingredients
Founded in 2021 by Lars Langhout and Professor Dr. Jeroen Hugenholtz, NoPalm Ingredients aims to address the environmental and supply chain challenges of conventional palm oil, which is found in 60% of supermarket products. After a pre-seed round in 2022, NoPalm Ingredients has developed an in-house pilot line producing kilograms of oil per batch and completed several pilot projects with industry giants like Colgate-Palmolive, Unilever, and Zeelandia. The team is now gearing up for industrial scale-up trials to deliver hundreds of kilograms of oil for customer testing. For more information please take a look at: https://www.nopalm-ingredients.com/
About Rubio Impact Ventures
Rubio Impact Ventures is a leading impact venture fund based in the Netherlands with € 150 million AUM. Rubio invests in world-changing entrepreneurs who unite powerful positive impact with a scalable commercial business; the future-proof approach to successful business. Rubio offers its investments a winning blend of capital, expertise and network access to help them accelerate to the next level. https://www.rubio.vc.
About Fairtree Elevant Ventures
Fairtree Elevant Ventures is a European investment fund, focused on accelerating ambitious, growth-orientated companies preparing to scale. With a focus on Seed to Series A investment in Europe, we find and back trailblazing companies that harness innovation to redefine the future. Fairtree Elevant Ventures is a Netherlands-domiciled fund and part of the Fairtree group of companies.
Fairtree is a leading global investment manager that manages around €6.7B in alternative and long-only investment portfolios across all global asset classes. As a trusted investment partner, Fairtree continually strives for investment excellence and to deliver consistent and competitive returns while pursuing its purpose of enriching the lives of all stakeholders. https://fairtree.com/elevantventures/
About Oost NL
Oost NL is the development company of East Netherlands. It strengthens the regional economy on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate and the provinces of Overijssel and Gelderland through investments in entrepreneur in the East of the Netherlands. In addition to these financial resources, Oost NL also makes its knowledge, skills and network available. The fund is active in the top sectors Food, Energy, Health, Tech and Circular Economy. https://oostnl.nl/nl
About Willow Capital Investments
Willow Capital Investments seeks to create a positive impact by accelerating sustainability. Our world urgently needs more solutions to make our planet a place to live for future generations. Many entrepreneurs have turned their attention to this purpose with technological innovations and novel solutions to make our planet a better place. Willow wishes to boost these developments and accelerate their scale-up. Energy transition and circularity are key themes among our investments.
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For industry partners, investors, and media inquiries, please contact:
NoPalm Ingredients: Lars Langhout – info@nopalm-ingredients.com
Rubio Impact Ventures: Sheila Klein Schiphorst – sheila@sheishere.nl
Fairtree : Anlie Dalvit - AnlieD@fairtree.com
OostNL: Maureen Haverkamp - maureen.haverkamp@oostnl.nl