MicroLub Ltd, a University of Leeds spinout from Sarkar Lab raises £3.5 million private investment
Huge congratulations to the MicroLub Team. MicroLub Ltd., a University of Leeds spinout from Sarkar Lab has raised £3.5 million private investment in seed funding in a round combining capital from NPIF II – Praetura Equity Finance, which is managed by Praetura Ventures as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II, along with LIFTT and Northern Gritstone, which led the funding. MicroLub has created an extraordinary aqueous lubrication technology to replace fats https://microlub.co.uk/. MicroLub technology can replace animal fats by a unique self-assembly based on proteinaceous microgels and polysaccharides. What is particularly remarkable is by virtue of its lubricity, MicroLub technology can reduce astringency in planet-friendly plant-based foods, a recurring challenge faced by the alternative protein industry today.
Professor Anwesha Sarkar, Founder and CTO of MicroLub said “When we discovered the technology and tested lubricity at multiple length scales, we were pretty certain that it will open up many possible applications, which will now become a reality with this investment led by Northern Gritstone.”
MicroLub CEO David Peters said “There is a huge market opportunity in food for MicroLub. We already have strong traction with ingredients giants and some of the largest food and dairy companies, who are looking for innovative ways to make their foods healthier, more nutritious and more sustainable.”
Technical Director, Dr. Andrea Araiza-Calahorra, said “Successful blind tasting with over 100 consumers across so many different food applications gives me real confidence that we will deliver the necessary proof points to have an exciting journey with our customers, so they can roll out tasty, affordable and healthy products onto supermarket shelves.”
Post this investment, Dr. Andrea Araiza-Calahorra (Postdoctoral Fellow, Eat4Age Project) and Alice Burberry (Research Assistant, NutriPlant Project) are moving to MicroLub Ltd as the Technical Director and Product Development Scientist, respectively to lead the technical development of ingredient technologies to address sustainability and the fat reduction challenges.
Check out here the media releases:
https://www.leeds.ac.uk/news-business-economy/news/article/5668/investment-boost-for-food-spinout
https://businesscloud.co.uk/news/tasty-3-5m-investment-for-ingredients-tech-startup-microlub/
https://www.prolificnorth.co.uk/news/3-5m-funding-boost-for-leeds-university-foodtech-spinout/
https://www.northern-gritstone.com/news/northern-gritstone-invests-in-microlub