Molecular farming startup, Finally Foods, secures pre-seed funding from The Kitchen FoodTech Hub

Finally Foods, a new AI-driven company specializing in molecular farming for the food sector, was co-founded by Dafna Gabbay, CEO, a seasoned entrepreneur, and Dr Basia J. Vinocur, CTO an expert in agricultural biotechnology. The company was formed in collaboration with Evogene, a leading computational biology company, and has secured pre-seed funding from The Kitchen FoodTech Hub (TKH) by Strauss Group and the Israeli Innovation Authority (IIA).

Finally Foods’ mission is to provide additional sources for animal based proteins in a sustainable manner both economically and environmentally. The company will modify plants to serve as 'bioreactors' for the production of these proteins, and will leverage Evogene's GeneRator AI technology to enable short R&D cycles, fast time-to market and efficient extraction. Based on the averages of several market reports, the global alternative proteins market size was around US$17.6 billion in 2022, and is expected to grow at an average CAGR of 12% in the coming period to an average market size of US$55 billion in 2032.

Finally Foods first targets casein, which is the main protein found in milk and is highly required in the food industry, primarily for cheese production. The access to Evogene's AI platform gives Finally the unique advantage to plan and grow the casein in a plant, so the same cow protein is obtained in a sustainable and cost effective manner.

This is the first investment of TKH in molecular farming.

"Molecular farming represents a catalyst towards global food security and a more sustainable future, and I am proud to lead Finally to be at the forefront of this segment," commented Gabbay. "I believe that with Dr Vinocur's technological leadership and vast experience, Evogene's cutting-edge technology and TKH's leading position in the FoodTech industry we will have a short time to market with our casein, with more proteins to follow. Looking forward to this exciting journey!

Ofer Haviv, President & CEO of Evogene, expressed his enthusiasm for this new venture, stating, "We are thrilled to embark on this new segment, marking a significant milestone for Evogene as we continue to drive innovation and growth in the industry. By harnessing the power of our GeneRator AI tech-engine, molecular farming has the potential to revolutionize the food industry and promote healthier diets worldwide."

"Finally is one of the rare cases where we see an extremely strong founding team, in Dafna and Basia, coupled with a proven technology platform based on the leading AI engine of Evogene,” said Amir Zaidman, Chief Business Officer of The Kitchen. “Establishing the company under the framework of The Kitchen and investing the pre-seed round was an easy decision in this case."