REDUCED secures EUR 6 million financing led by Novo Holdings to scale its natural food ingredients business

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- REDUCED, a Copenhagen-based company that uses fermentation technology to transform food and agriculture industry side streams into natural food ingredients, today announced it has secured EUR 6 million in new financing. The funds were raised from a range of investors, including new investment from Novo Holdings and the Nordic flavour house Einar Willumsen, as well as existing investors EIFO and Rockstart Agrifood.

Proceeds from the round will be used to further develop its technology platform, broaden its portfolio of savoury ingredients, secure production capacity, implement certifications, and increase sales and marketing efforts.

Since REDUCED was founded in 2020 by William Anton Lauf Olsen & Emil Munck de Voss, the Company has developed proprietary processes that use novel fermentation technology to derive unique umami flavours from food industry side streams at a lower cost, due to shortened process time scales, and with a significantly lower CO₂ impact.

Rooted in gastronomy, REDUCED's Head of Research & Development, Lorenzo Tirelli, and Head of Product, Bram Kerkhof, both previously worked in the fermentation lab of the internationally acclaimed Danish restaurant Noma, which was frequently rated as one of the World's 50 Best Restaurants¹.

REDUCED's technology enables the extraction of the savoury umami flavours from both vegetable and animal side streams and convert them using fermentation into clean label ingredients. The global market for savoury food ingredients is estimated to be worth more than EUR 31.5 billion, and EUR 8.8 billion for global clean label savoury flavourings².

REDUCED's wide range of products include organic chicken stock concentrates made from retired laying hens, and a stock concentrate made from vegetables that don't meet the strict appearance or size criteria of supermarkets, along with fermented umami sauces which add complexity and a lingering aftertaste to food.

REDUCED currently supplies more than 100 food service businesses, and delivers ingredients to food manufacturers in collaboration with leading food ingredient suppliers.

Emil Munck de Voss, Co-Founder & CEO of REDUCED, said:

"This investment will be transformative for the Company as we expand and extend the range of products we can offer, drawing on our gastronomic heritage to create unique flavours. Not only will this bring great new products to the market, but it will also help to reduce CO₂ emissions and make the most of the side streams available in the food production chain. We are ready to continue the work we have started and accelerate the impact we can make on the food industry."

Thomas Grotkjær, Partner, Bioindustrial Investments, Novo Holdings commented:

"REDUCED brings an exciting combination of strong Nordic cuisine and fermentation technology to the growing trend of sustainability in food production. With delicious natural products, that are already in demand from over 100 customers, we are pleased to support the REDUCED team in their journey from innovative start-up to industrial scale."

Jan Grøndal, Chief Executive Officer, Einar Willumsen said:

"REDUCED has the potential to make a significant impact in the food ingredients industry and we want to be a part of that. We are impressed by the Company's ability to convert technology to commercial products and their approach to flavour creation. In Denmark, we have a tradition for creating high-value food ingredients companies, and we strongly believe REDUCED could be the next one." 

About REDUCED
Founded in 2020, REDUCED is challenging the flavour industry, by creating intense natural flavour solutions from side streams and surplus produce from the food and agricultural industry.

The Copenhagen-based company has developed unique fermentation processes, allowing the utilisation of various side streams to create umami-rich flavour solutions. REDUCED's mission is to deliver flavour solutions with low carbon impact by repurposing side streams and provide cost-effective, natural, and flavour-rich food ingredients.

About Novo Holdings A/S

Novo Holdings is a holding and investment company that is responsible for managing the assets and the wealth of the Novo Nordisk Foundation. The purpose of Novo Holdings is to improve people's health and the sustainability of society and the planet by generating attractive long-term returns on the assets of the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

 Wholly owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Novo Holdings is the controlling shareholder of Novo Nordisk A/S and Novonesis A/S (Novozymes A/S) and manages an investment portfolio with a long-term return perspective.

In addition to managing a broad portfolio of equities, bonds, real estate, infrastructure and private equity assets, Novo Holdings is a world-leading life sciences investor. Through its Seeds, Venture, Growth, Asia, Bioindustrial and Principal Investments teams, Novo Holdings invests in life science companies at all stages of development.  As of year-end 2023, Novo Holdings had total assets of EUR 149 billion. www.novoholdings.dk

About Einar Willumsen A/S

Einar Willumsen is a Nordic flavour house with more than 123 years of experience. Ever since its establishment in 1901, EW has been practicing its slogan: "When taste and speed matter". The company uses nature's recipes to create unique and authentic taste experiences for beverages, dairy, confectionery, and bakery industries, based on a strong skillset within e.g. Flavour creation, application technology, distillation, bio solutions, and extraction technology. On top of creating the perfect taste solutions and final applications, the company assists with e.g. regulatory and compliance assistance and is therefore a full solutions provider.

¹ https://www.theworlds50best.com/previous-list/2021

² Source: Innova market insights 2020