Morocco Invests in South-African Start-Up Specializing in Animal-Free Dairy Products

UM6P Ventures, an investment arm of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, has announced investing in South African company De Novo Dairy, which produces animal-free dairy products that provide the same taste and nutrition as the traditional dairy products.
De Novo Dairy specializes in the production of milk proteins using precision fermentation of yeast strains. This allows them to extract essential cruelty-free milk proteins that are typically very scarce and difficult to obtain.
The proteins developed by De Novo Dairy can be used within a wide range of products to improve and boost human nutrition. The startup is also targeting a wide range of industries including food, health, sports nutrition, and baby formula.
“Dairy alternatives have gained global traction over the last few years due to the health-related and environmental benefits they present. We are pleased to add De Novo Dairy to our growing portfolio of Deeptech startups, work with their talented management team and support them while improving the African food system.,” said Ikram Labtaini, Scientific Development & Operations Lead, UM6P Ventures.
For his part, Jean Louwrens, CEO of De Novo Dairy, said: “We are really excited to have the support of UM6P Ventures in this investment. They share our vision and mission to improve human nutrition while removing animals from the food chain.”
Thanks to the UM6P backing, “we will accelerate both R&D and scale-up efforts to achieve future milestones together”, he added.