Michroma Aims to Bring More Fun to Food Colorings and Flavors with Its Fungi-Based Ingredients

In recent years, the food coloring market has trended towards using natural ingredients as more consumers demand cleaner labels for the foods they eat. Startups have emerged with innovative approaches to healthier food colors, ingredients, and flavorings.

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Michroma: Revolutionizing Food Coloring with Precision Fermentation

One such startup is Michroma, a biotechnology company that uses precision fermentation to produce fungal food colors. Founded in 2019 by Ricky Cassini and Mauricio Braia, both from Argentina, Michroma has developed a novel technology for creating fungal ‘biofactories’ to produce small molecules, like colors, more efficiently.

From Enzymes to Fungal Biofactories

Mauricio Braia, the company’s chief scientific officer, has a background in developing technology for the food industry. Initially focused on producing enzymes using filamentous fungi, he wanted to explore new possibilities. By cultivating fungal strains in soil media, he discovered that they could produce a red coloring. This led him to leverage this information into a new technology for creating fungal biofactories.

Michroma’s First Product: Red+

The company started with a red colorant replacement for Red 40, which is commonly used in food products. However, traditional methods for producing this color have limitations when it comes to temperature and pH stability. Michroma’s first product, Red+, addresses these issues by being temperature-resistant and stable across the food pH spectrum.

A New Era in Food Coloring

In addition to traditional food uses, Red+ can be used to give color to cultivated meat. The plan is to produce other colors, starting with warm shades like orange and yellow, and eventually moving on to blue and white.

Scaling Up: Regulatory Approvals and Distribution

Michroma has prototyped Red+ with some large food companies and is currently in negotiations with suppliers for distribution. The company will submit its petition to both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to scale up production.

Funding and Growth

Michroma secured $6.4 million in seed financing led by Supply Change Capital, a food tech VC backed by 301 INC, the corporate venture capital arm of General Mills. This funding will go into expanding R&D capabilities and growing the Michroma team from 15 to 35 people in the next two years.

The Future of Food Technology

Investors are salivating over food technology startups like Michroma, which are revolutionizing the way we produce and consume food. With its innovative approach to natural food colorings, Michroma is poised to make a significant impact on the industry.