A handful of food-tech start-ups are taking fermentation towards new frontiers. Some of them, like Formo or Moolec Science combine advanced fermentation techniques with genetic engineering, obtaining animal proteins from microorganisms that wouldn’t normally produce them.

However, traditional fermentation, the thousand-year old food processing technique where you let microorganism do their job of producing wine, yogurt, or cheese, is not standing still. A start-up based in New York, called Kingdom Supercultures, has just raised $25 m in series A funding to multiply its potential.

Kingdom Supercultures specializes in developing new combinations of microbial cultures - called Supercultures - that CPG companies can use to precisely tune the sensory and functional properties of their products. What the company does, is take the natural process of the selection of bacteria strains that humankind has used for 10,000 years and accelerate it, without the use of genetic engineering.

As Kingdom Supercultures explains in the press release announcing the funding round, these Supercultures can be used to improve the flavour, texture and functional properties of consumer products in a healthier and more sustainable manner than chemical alternatives. This happens much in the same way as the artificial chemical isolates developed by ingredient companies. 

Kingdom Supercultures starts from the product specifications indicated by the customer and works backwards to develop a customized culture or fermentate solution. The process goes from concept to commercialization in as little as 6 months.

A particular target market are plant-based alternatives. Here, Kingdom Supercultures aims to help manufacturers create plant-based yogurts and cheeses that taste like real dairy, low-alcohol wines and beers with full flavour, and natural preservatives that work better than artificial ones.

But the start-up’s library of natural microbes can be a great fit for personal care and beauty brands too.

“The last few years have seen tremendous growth in demand for consumer goods that are healthier and more sustainable. We are pioneering an entirely new field of science and class of ingredients by working with biology at the ecosystem and microbiome level," said CSO Ravi Sheth.

To learn more about Kingdom Supercultures visit their website kingdomsupercultures.com or get in touch with them directly using the button below.