Plantopia Overview
Plantopia specializes in scalable molecular farming technology, producing high-quality bio-compounds for the dairy alternatives industry. Its proprietary indoor platform generates fully micellar casein proteins—essential for authentic cheese texture, mouthfeel, and stretch—using cost-effective plant-based methods. Unlike costly precision fermentation or animal-cell-based approaches, Plantopia’s process efficiently creates all four casein proteins required by industry standards, enabling affordable and scalable production without compromising quality. By overcoming previous barriers in dairy alternatives, Plantopia’s platform positions the company to achieve cost parity with animal-derived casein, offering a transformative solution that addresses quality, scalability, regulatory friendliness, and significant cost leadership.
Cumulative Funding Raised Over Time ($)
$1.0MDec 2020
$2.0MJan 2022
$8.0MJan 2023
Latest News
Plantopia turns to sprouted oats for cost-effective production of animal-free dairy
growth-positive
מי תצלח את המשבר בהייטק? נבחרת הסטארטאפים 2023
TheMarkers technology writers have selected 20 innovative Israeli startups that have stood out in a challenging year for the tech industry. Despite the global crisis and a local decline in investments, these startups are contributing to the growth of the Israeli tech industry. TheMarkers annual list aims to identify the startups that are interesting and promising. The article discusses the new reality faced by tech employees, the pursuit of happiness, and the path to success and health.
CustomersPartnersInvestmentManagement Changes
growth-positive
Israeli agrotech startup pulls in $6m for cow-free milk and cheese made from lettuce
Israeli startup Pigmentum has raised $6 million in a seed round to develop its gene-modified plant-based technology that can create milk proteins from lettuce. The company aims to produce dairy duplicates, including cheese, using its technology. The genetically modified lettuce is grown in greenhouses and then harvested to extract the milk-like juice, which is mixed with natural ingredients for taste and smell. Unlike other non-dairy milk alternatives, Pigmentums lettuce can produce casein, a key protein in cheese production. The funding will be used to expand the R&D team, build a laboratory, and launch a market pilot.
InvestmentPartners
growth-positive
Dairy grown in lettuce? Meet the start-up triggering protein, pigment, and aroma production in a greenhouse
Israeli ag-tech company Pigmentum is using transgenic modification and molecular farming techniques to produce high yields of natural compounds for the food industry. The companys technology allows for the inducible expression of specific desired compounds in plants, resulting in more efficient and sustainable production. Pigmentum is growing compounds in romaine lettuce, including pigments, aromas, and proteins, such as casein. The company aims to commercialize its products for the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food industries. Pigmentum faces challenges in obtaining regulatory approval for genetically modified foods and gaining market acceptance, particularly in Europe. However, the company believes its sustainable approach to protein production and the advantages of its technology, such as lower capital expenditure and ease of scale, will drive market adoption.
CustomersPartners
growth-positive
Pigmentum raises $1 million from FreshStart to advance genetical concentration of color and flavor in plants
FreshStart has welcomed Pigmentum, an Israeli agro-tech startup, into its food-tech incubator and has provided a $1 million investment. Pigmentums technology modifies the genetic components of plants to enhance the production of natural flavor and color substances. The company aims to transform each plant into a small factory of natural flavor and aroma compounds. The global market for food coloring, flavoring, and aroma substances is estimated to be a $16 billion industry, and Pigmentums solution has the potential to reduce land, irrigation, and cultivation costs. Pigmentum was co-founded in 2018 and is an alumnus of FaculTech, the Students Entrepreneurship Club of the Hebrew Universitys Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment.
InvestmentPartners
| Sector | Agriculture & Food Technologies |
Funding
| Total funding | $8.1M |
| Last funding | $6M |
| Stage | Seed |
| Rounds | 4 |
| Investors | 7 |
Team Members
4
Employees: 11-50
Web & Social Links
| Website | plantopia.bio |
Locations
Caesarea, Israel
Photos & Videos
5 item(s)
Plantopia Business
Business models
B2B
Product stage
Alpha
Employees
11-50
Sector
Climate TechFood & Land UseSustainable FarmingAgriculture & Food TechnologiesAg TechGenetics & InputTarget Customer
Healthcare & Life SciencesLife SciencesPharmaceuticalsCosmeticsAgriculture & FoodCore Technology
BiologicalsGenesMoleculesTags (10)
climate-techgeneticsnovel-ingredientspharma-companiesagricultureagtechbiotechnologyfood-and-beverageplant-genomicscosmetic-companiesGeographic Markets
North AmericaPlantopia Financials
$8.1M
Total funding
Undisclosed
Capital raised
$6M
Last funding
Seed
Funding stage
4
Total rounds
7
Investors
Cumulative Funding Raised Over Time ($)
$1.0MDec 2020
$2.0MJan 2022
$8.0MJan 2023
Private Equity Funding
Seed
Jan 2023
$6M
Tnuva, Happiness Capital, Arkin Tech, Kibbutz Yotvata, OurCrowd
Undisclosed Round
Jan 2022
$1.03M
OurCrowd
Seed
Dec 2020
$1M
Fresh Start (Lead)
,
Israel Innovation Authority
Non-Equity Funding
GrantEvent
Mar 2018
$70K
Israel Innovation Authority
Plantopia Lifecycle
Cumulative Funding Raised Over Time
$1.0MDec 2020
$2.0MJan 2022
$8.0MJan 2023
All Events
Seed
Jan 2023
$6M
Tnuva, Happiness Capital, Arkin Tech, Kibbutz Yotvata, OurCrowd
Undisclosed Round
Jan 2022
$1.03M
OurCrowd
Seed
Dec 2020
$1M
Fresh Start (Lead)
,
Israel Innovation Authority
GrantEvent
Mar 2018
$70K
Israel Innovation Authority
Plantopia News
5 articlesPlantopia turns to sprouted oats for cost-effective production of animal-free dairy
growth-positive
מי תצלח את המשבר בהייטק? נבחרת הסטארטאפים 2023
TheMarkers technology writers have selected 20 innovative Israeli startups that have stood out in a challenging year for the tech industry. Despite the global crisis and a local decline in investments, these startups are contributing to the growth of the Israeli tech industry. TheMarkers annual list aims to identify the startups that are interesting and promising. The article discusses the new reality faced by tech employees, the pursuit of happiness, and the path to success and health.
CustomersPartnersInvestmentManagement Changes
growth-positive
Israeli agrotech startup pulls in $6m for cow-free milk and cheese made from lettuce
Israeli startup Pigmentum has raised $6 million in a seed round to develop its gene-modified plant-based technology that can create milk proteins from lettuce. The company aims to produce dairy duplicates, including cheese, using its technology. The genetically modified lettuce is grown in greenhouses and then harvested to extract the milk-like juice, which is mixed with natural ingredients for taste and smell. Unlike other non-dairy milk alternatives, Pigmentums lettuce can produce casein, a key protein in cheese production. The funding will be used to expand the R&D team, build a laboratory, and launch a market pilot.
InvestmentPartners
growth-positive
Dairy grown in lettuce? Meet the start-up triggering protein, pigment, and aroma production in a greenhouse
Israeli ag-tech company Pigmentum is using transgenic modification and molecular farming techniques to produce high yields of natural compounds for the food industry. The companys technology allows for the inducible expression of specific desired compounds in plants, resulting in more efficient and sustainable production. Pigmentum is growing compounds in romaine lettuce, including pigments, aromas, and proteins, such as casein. The company aims to commercialize its products for the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food industries. Pigmentum faces challenges in obtaining regulatory approval for genetically modified foods and gaining market acceptance, particularly in Europe. However, the company believes its sustainable approach to protein production and the advantages of its technology, such as lower capital expenditure and ease of scale, will drive market adoption.
CustomersPartners
growth-positive
Pigmentum raises $1 million from FreshStart to advance genetical concentration of color and flavor in plants
FreshStart has welcomed Pigmentum, an Israeli agro-tech startup, into its food-tech incubator and has provided a $1 million investment. Pigmentums technology modifies the genetic components of plants to enhance the production of natural flavor and color substances. The company aims to transform each plant into a small factory of natural flavor and aroma compounds. The global market for food coloring, flavoring, and aroma substances is estimated to be a $16 billion industry, and Pigmentums solution has the potential to reduce land, irrigation, and cultivation costs. Pigmentum was co-founded in 2018 and is an alumnus of FaculTech, the Students Entrepreneurship Club of the Hebrew Universitys Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment.
InvestmentPartners
Plantopia Team
Employee Info
| Employees (range) | 11-50 |
| Exact count | 21 |
| Team members | 4 |
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Plantopia Internal
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Admin Info
| Confidence | 99/100 |
| Missing | markets |
| BI Verification | Ortal Wein |
| Registrar ID | 515814622 |
| Phone | +972546204270 |
| Creator | Tal Lutzky |
| Creator email | tallutzky@gmail.com |
| Last updater | Ortal Wein |
| Updater email | ortalw@sncentral.org |
| Last update | 2023-08-21T00:00:00.000Z |
| Created | 2020-10-14T00:00:00.000Z |
| Claimed | Yes |