Onego Bio
- €750,000
- Maija Itkonen
- Capital Raised: $40,000,000
Onego Bio Ltd. is a biotech food company that has created Bioalbumen, bioidentical animal-free egg protein. Bioalbumen is produced with a precision fermentation process method that creates real egg protein without the need for animals. Their mission is to introduce their animal-free egg protein to the industry and by producing and distributing it with Onego’s reliable and efficient method, achieving large-scale improvements in the food system.
Onego work was started at VTT Technical Research Centre, Helsinki in 2015-2016 when the renowned molecular biologist Dr. Chris Landowski and his team started working with animal-free egg and milk proteins at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. The work continued until February 2022 when the famous startup entrepreneur and alternative protein specialist Maija Itkonen and Chris Landowski combined their cutting-edge experiences of molecular biology and alternative protein business, and created the spinoff called Onego Bio Ltd.
Problem they solve
- Egg market prices constantly fluctuating due to avian flu and increased demand for cage-free. Also, the domino effect of war, pandemics, climate change and broken supply chain have accelerated the global food crisis.
- Food companies have committed to 50% cage free by 2025 and 100% by 2027-28. Mexico and US [Onego’s first markets] will not be able to meet those requirements and hence would need to be highly dependent on Alternative egg solutions.
- The egg industry’s environmental footprint is a culmination of greenhouse gases and other harmful emissions that occur during every stage of egg production. Affiliated scientists with University of Oviedo obtained a carbon footprint of 2.7kg of CO2 equivalent per dozen eggs.
Why we believe
- Onego Bio’s team has a great reputation with its CEO Maija Itkonen’s experience and success in her previous startups and its CTO, Christopher Lewandowski, regarded as one of the best and has high respect in the field of Precision fermentation.
- Best-in-class product with optimum functionality which is very precise and cannot be replicated. High efficiency and purity with a well-known production system Trichoderma reesei.
- Onego’s process requires 10x less land when using virgin carbon source as feed and has also proved a 90% lower environmental footprint, with potential to 4.2Mn+ tons in carbon reduction over 10 Years.
Investors
Want to join us on our mission to fight climate change through Agri-Food revolution and discuss our value proposition?
Entrepreneurs
We know taking the next big step is never easy, but if the goals are mutual, things do fall into place. Let’s discuss your idea!