Mycofeast, a UK-based fermentation company, has bought New Zealand startup Daisy Lab, securing its precision-fermented lactoferrin platform at a moment when the alternative protein sector faces brutal consolidation.
Daisy Lab engineers microbes to manufacture cow-free whey proteins, with bovine lactoferrin its flagship product. The company had already installed a 500-litre fermenter ahead of scale-up work.
The acquisition reflects a punishing funding climate. More than 90 alternative protein companies have merged, sold, filed for bankruptcy, or shut down since September 2024.
Daisy Lab and Mycofeast began as potential collaborators. According to CEO Irina Miller, the teams knew each other well, but capital raising proved difficult amid weak market conditions for food tech and biotech. Rather than spend years constructing manufacturing and commercial infrastructure independently, Daisy Lab now taps into Mycofeast’s existing capabilities.
Lactoferrin offers a compelling target for precision fermentation. This glycoprotein, found in bovine colostrum and human milk, carries antimicrobial properties that food, nutrition, and health companies prize. Purified supplies remain scarce, pushing prices from $600 to $2,000 per kilogram. Miller noted the economics work because the protein commands high value and requires only low inclusion rates.
The startup has also produced recombinant human lactoferrin at lab scale. Human milk contains lactoferrin at much higher concentrations than dairy sources, and the human version absorbs more readily. That programme remains paused, though Mycofeast’s California research arm, Evolutia Bio, could advance it if commercial promise emerges.
Mycofeast, founded in 2023, brings strain development, enzyme design, fermentation scale-up, and a 16-million-litre plant in Europe. Chief executive Witek Hruzewicz said biotech’s hardest challenge involves linking science to manufacturing, capital, and markets quickly enough. Daisy Lab, he argued, fits that system well.
Over the next year, Daisy Lab plans further scale-up, regulatory filings, customer trials, and process transfer into Mycofeast’s plant. Meanwhile, competitors crowd the field: Helaina, All G, TurtleTree, and Vivici all pursue lactoferrin products. Daisy Lab’s bovine lactoferrin still lacks regulatory approval and commercial launch, leaving its path to market unproven despite the new industrial backing.
