What’s the deal? Dutch startup Vivici has been awarded €12.5 million ($14.4M) through the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator Program to scale production of dairy proteins via precision fermentation. The blended financing combines grant funding with equity investment.
Vivici was formed by dairy giant Fonterra and DSM-Firmenich in December 2022. It raised a $34 million Series A round last year.
Why now? Vivici has hit several milestones that make it a strong candidate for public funding. It recently integrated technology from Danish startup Enduro Genetics into its production strain, delivering a sharp increase in titers and yields — two metrics that determine whether precision fermentation can compete on cost with conventional dairy.
On the regulatory front, Vivici attained FDA GRAS status for beta-lactoglobulin (the primary protein in whey) in February 2025 and self-GRAS status for the bioactive protein lactoferrin in February 2026.
“We entered the scene as the new kid on the block, and since then, we’ve leapfrogged a lot of the field and catapulted ourselves to the front,” CEO Stephan van Sint Fiet said.
What could go wrong? Precision fermentation has long struggled to close the gap between pilot-scale promise and commercially viable production. Even with improved yields, cost parity with conventional dairy remains a steep hill. Regulatory timelines in Europe tend to be slower than in the US, which could limit how quickly Vivici can sell its products on its home continent.
The broader alternative protein sector has also cooled in recent years, with consumer adoption lagging behind investor enthusiasm.
The signal: The EIC’s backing of Vivici underscores a growing pattern of European public capital flowing into precision fermentation at a time when private alternative-protein funding has cooled. As a government and non-profit investor, the EIC is effectively de-risking a sector that venture capital alone has struggled to carry past the commercialisation “valley of death.” For an early-stage company born out of two industry incumbents, the blend of public financing and corporate parentage may prove to be the capital structure precision fermentation needs to finally reach cost-competitive scale.