Cosaic, a Swiss food-technology startup formerly known as Cultivated Biosciences, has announced the completion of a $6 million seed funding round. The investment was led by DSM-Firmenich Ventures, the venture capital arm of the global nutrition and beauty giant, with additional participation from Swiss deep-tech investor Kickfund and existing investors Navus Ventures and Zuercher Kantonalbank.
The successful raise comes during a period of cautious investment within the food-tech sector, signalling strong institutional confidence in Cosaic’s specific technological approach and its path toward commercial viability.
Technological Platform and Ingredient Innovation
Headquartered in Horgen, Switzerland, Cosaic is developing a specialised category of food ingredients derived from yeast fermentation. The company’s proprietary technology platform is engineered to address one of the most persistent challenges in plant-based and dairy-free formulations: achieving a high-quality sensory profile without complex additive lists.
The single-ingredient solution targets three primary functional areas:
Creaminess: Providing the mouthfeel typically associated with animal-derived fats.
Stability: Maintaining structural integrity across various processing conditions.
Functionality: Replacing the need for multiple texturizers and stabilisers in a single application.
By consolidating these functions into one fermented ingredient, Cosaic aims to help manufacturers simplify labels and reduce the reliance on traditional thickeners and emulsifiers.
Priorities for Market Readiness
The $6 million capital injection is earmarked for three core growth priorities as the company transitions from product development to commercial availability.
Regulatory Compliance: Navigating the necessary approvals for new fermentation-derived ingredients in key global markets.
Production Scale-up: Increasing manufacturing capacity to meet the volume requirements of industrial-scale food producers.
Industrial Client Trials: Executing large-scale trials with major food and beverage manufacturers to validate the ingredient’s performance in diverse product formats.
Backing and Commercial Validation
The investment from DSM-Firmenich Ventures follows a separate commercial validation earlier in late 2025, when Cosaic announced a partnership with the global ingredients solutions provider Ingredion. This combination of strategic investment and commercial partnership is intended to accelerate the company’s transition to market launch.
Tomas Turner, co-founder and CEO of Cosaic, stated that the company is building an ingredient designed to resolve the frequent trade-offs manufacturers face between sensory performance, cost, and clean-label requirements. Turner noted that the company’s capital-efficient scale-up model and strategic backing position it to move efficiently toward launch readiness.
By leveraging yeast fermentation to create functional fats and texturizers, Cosaic joins a growing segment of the "next-generation" ingredient industry focused on improving the performance of sustainable food systems through biotechnology.
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