Axel Johnson investment fund Novax co-led a $15.3m round for Fraunhofer Institute's vegan protein and dairy substitute developer.

Prolupin, a Germany-based plant-derived food products supplier founded on research from Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging, has raised €14m ($15.3m) in a funding round co-led by Novax, an investment vehicle for conglomerate Axel Johnson. Investment firm Capricorn Partners co-led the round through its Sustainable Chemistry Fund while venture capital firms Munich Venture Partners and eCapital also took part. Founded in 2010, Prolupin has developed a vegan protein alternative sourced from sweet lupine that is used in products such as non-dairy yoghurts, ice creams, milks and cream cheeses it markets under the Luve brand. 7Life, a subsidiary of media group ProSiebenSat.1, led Prolupin’s previous round in 2018, which raised an undisclosed sum with commitments from investment company Pesch as well as existing shareholders Tate & Lyle Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of packaged food producer Tate & Lyle, Munich Venture Partners and eCapital. Details about Prolupin’s earlier funding could not be ascertained. – Separate versions of this article first appeared in our deal net, before the round size was confirmed, and on Global Corporate Venturing. Additional reporting by Callum Cyrus.

Subscribe to go deeper

GCV subscribers get access to all our proprietary data and deep-dive articles, as well as the global directory of CVC investors.



Not sure if you have a subscription?