Vivici selects Ginkgo Bioworks to extend its range of novel dairy proteins

Vivici BV, a B2B ingredients startup company using precision fermentation to make animal-free dairy proteins, and Ginkgo Bioworks, which is building the leading platform for cell programming and biosecurity, have today announced a new partnership. Through this collaboration, Vivici will leverage Ginkgo's extensive capabilities in strain engineering, optimisation and performance, to develop and commercialise a next generation of functional alternative protein.

Vivici, a startup company founded by DSM Venturing (now part of dsm-firmenich) and Fonterra, is on a mission to meet the world's growing need for sustainable, nutritious and great tasting proteins. Recognizing the need for alternatives to traditional animal agriculture, Vivici employs precision fermentation techniques to produce animal-free dairy proteins with microorganisms. This innovative approach not only supplements the existing animal protein supply, but also paves the way for a more sustainable food system in the future.

Ginkgo plans to support Vivici by delivering optimized strains for dairy protein production via precision fermentation. Ginkgo intends to design and build an integrated library, screen for strains with the best protein expression, validate and grow the most promising hits, and then transfer the top performing strains to Vivici for evaluation. The aim is for these strains to enable optimal protein expression, superior functionality, and commercial-level titers.

"We are thrilled to collaborate with Ginkgo. Ginkgo's scale and AI-driven approach to designing strains for protein expression is a differentiated offering. We are confident in Ginkgo's capabilities to provide efficient, scalable strains that can support Vivici's speed to market," said Stephan van Sint Fiet, CEO at Vivici (pictured above).

"We're so excited to support Vivici in its vision of meeting growing demand for animal-free protein alternatives. We're here to help Vivici deliver on the promise that precision fermentation can lead to planet-friendly nutrition," said Kevin Madden, Senior Vice President of Commercialization at Ginkgo Bioworks. "We believe our speed and experience with dairy protein development, ultra high throughput screening, and fermentation scale-up can enable Vivici to successfully expand their current protein portfolio and bring new solutions to market. We're eager to help Vivici enter the market as a provider of sustainable and nutritious animal-free protein solutions to a wide range of customers."