$6.4m equips EvodiaBio to take on challenge of non-alcoholic beer

EvodiaBio, which recently introduced a technology platform that uses precision fermentation to produce sustainable aromas for the food and drink industry, has managed to secure $6.4m in funding.

The Danish company founded just one and a half years ago, received financial support from the BioInnovation Institute, a Danish accelerator funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, and several other international industry players, including the German flavour house Symrise and Nordic Foodtech VC.

“Our vision is to create a sustainable, global company within the development, production, and commercialisation of natural aromatic substances and this funding is our opportunity to realise this vision,”​ said Jarne Elleholm, co-founder and chairman of EvodiaBio.

Commenting on the investment, Nick Russell, SVP Business Incubation Group at Symrise said: “We are very enthusiastic about this collaboration and ready to support the company on this exciting journey. We share with EvodiaBio the same vision for a greener future and believe that the precision fermentation technology developed by the team will greatly contribute to a more sustainable flavour and fragrance industry, starting with non-alcoholic beer applications and with the potential to go much further.”​

Enhancing the taste of non-alcoholic beer

One of the major challenges for the brewing industry has been getting the taste of non-alcoholic beer right, according to Elleholm. As such, this is the first category the organisation with focus on.  

The company’s newly developed aroma blend – Yops – has been developed to address this particular challenge and to serve as a sustainable alternative to co cultivated aroma hops.

In the longer term, the bio-industrial company will also be developing aromas for other beverages, along with other segments such as perfume.

How do the precision fermented aromas work?

EvodiaBio’s monoterpenoid (a class of terpenes that comprise two isoprene units) aromas are produced using yeast cells that secrete the individual aroma components and are then combined to mimic the aroma profiles of different hops.

The technology was developed after years of research by the scientific co-founders, Prof. Sotirios Kampranis, Dr. Simon Dusséaux and Dr. Victor Forman.

Using EvodiaBio's solution, EvodiaBio claims the brewer avoids depleting limited plant resources, while water and CO₂​ emissions are reduced by more than 90 percent.

Founder and partner of Nordic Foodtech VC (the lead investors), Lauri Reuter, added: “A better food system is not only about securing essential nutrition, but also providing the aroma and sensory experiences we love – without depleting scarce resources. The EvodiaBio team has discovered an elegant solution to a difficult bottle neck in sustainable production of aroma compounds​.”

In terms of the next steps, EvodiaBio will be acquiring its own offices, laboratories and launching a pilot production project in Denmark.