Formo
German startup making cheese from koji fermentation and lab-grown casein, not cows.
Formo has real shelf space today through REWE, but its bigger bet on lab-made casein still waits on regulators while cash-rich rivals close in.
Formo uses precision fermentation (growing proteins in tanks instead of from cows) to make cheese ingredients and finished cheese products. The company has already placed koji-cheese in over 2,000 European stores and got a major retailer, REWE, to invest in the company, which locks in real distribution today. However, Formo's growth plan depends almost entirely on winning FDA approval in the United States and EU approval in Europe for its main product (a lab-made milk protein called casein), and neither approval is guaranteed or under Formo's control. Big dairy companies like General Mills, Remilk, and Perfect Day are all building their own fermented proteins too, so Formo has no special advantage on the technology itself. The funding for this whole sector collapsed from $632 million in 2024 to $357 million in 2025, and other fermentation companies like Meati and Miyoko's have gone out of business, making it much harder for Formo to raise money if it needs more cash. The one thing that could change everything is if Formo gets FDA approval by late 2026 before Perfect Day (a well-funded competitor) starts selling from its new factory in India, which would give Formo a head start.
Formo's koji-cheese reorder volume at REWE, BILLA, Metro in Q3-Q4 2026. Shows whether retail demand for its shipped products is holding or softening.
Whether Formo closes a new funding round in 2026 and on what terms. Shows if it can outlast sector-wide alt-dairy funding contraction and peer bankruptcies.
- $61M Series B raised
- 2,000+ retail stores stocking products
- €35M EIB venture debt secured
- FDA GRAS no-questions letter for casein not guaranteed by expected late 2026 timeline.
- EU Novel Food approval for casein remains slow and pending, delaying home-market launch.
- Sector-wide fermentation funding fell from $632M to $357M in 2025 with peer bankruptcies (Meati, Miyoko's, ENORM).
- Conflicting headcount and revenue estimates (40 vs 84+ employees; <$5M vs ~$44M revenue) signal data opacity.
- Better-capitalized Perfect Day scaling India production just as Formo enters US casein market.
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Perfect Day | gaining on | India Zydus plant reaches mechanical completion Sept 2026, commercial shipments Q4 2026 |
| General Mills | contesting | Developing own precision-fermented whey protein for cream cheese as of Jan 2026 |
| Remilk | contesting | Backed by dairy incumbent Hochland, competing on precision-fermented casein |
| Those Vegan Cowboys | contesting | Co-developing Formo's casein while also a nominal casein competitor, per June 2026 filing |
- Is Formo profitable in 2026?
- No. Formo is not yet profitable. At its September 2024 Series B raise, management stated an internal goal of net profitability by 2027, meaning as of 2026 the company is still pre-profit and dependent on continued fundraising and venture debt to fund operations.
- Could AI replace Formo's core business?
- Unlikely directly. Formo's core product is physical precision and koji fermentation of dairy proteins plus regulated food manufacturing, not software. AI is used industry-wide as an R&D tool for strain design, but it cannot replace fermentation plants, FDA GRAS filings, or REWE retail distribution deals.
- Who owns Formo?
- Formo is privately held and venture-backed, with no single owner. Investors include EQT Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Elevat3 Capital, Foodlabs, M Ventures, and REWE Group, which took an equity stake as part of Formo's $61M Series B round announced September 10, 2024.
- Who is Formo's biggest competitor?
- Perfect Day is Formo's best-funded rival, building a large India plant via a Zydus joint venture with first commercial shipments targeted for Q4 2026, timed close to Formo's own June 2026 US casein push, putting the two head to head in the precision-fermented dairy protein market.
- Has Formo had layoffs?
- No confirmed layoff reports appear in available sources, but headcount figures conflict: founder Raffael Wohlgensinger cited around 40 employees in a May 2026 interview versus higher third-party aggregator estimates, an unresolved discrepancy rather than a confirmed reduction.
- How much funding has Formo raised total?
- Formo raised roughly €135M (about $139M) cumulatively as of January 14, 2025, including a $4.7M seed in December 2019, a €42M Series A in September 2021, a $61M Series B in September 2024, and €35M in EIB venture debt in January 2025.
- 2026-06-02Formo casein enters active FDA GRAS review; US subsidiary Formo Foods Inc. launched
- 2026-05-10Founder cites ~40 employees; Formo shifts strategy toward US/Asia over slow EU approval
- 2026-01-08Formo appoints Dr. Andreas Heyl (ex-Lonza) as CTO
- 2025-01-14Formo secures €35M EIB venture debt, total funding reaches ~€135M
- 2024-09-10Formo raises $61M Series B; REWE takes equity stake; koji cheese launches in 2,000+ stores
- 2021-09-13Formo raises €42M Series A led by EQT Ventures, Elevat3, Lowercarbon
- 2019-12Formo (as LegenDairy Foods) raises ~$4.7M seed funding
- 2019Formo founded by Raffael Wohlgensinger in Berlin
- Formo founder Raffael Wohlgensinger: 'I set out to make Gruyère cheese, without the cow' (2026-05-10)
- Formo, Funding, Investors & Signals 2026 (2026-06-07)
- Berlin-based foodtech startup Formo raises €42 million (2021-09-13)
- 61 Millionen Dollar für innovativen Käse ohne Kuh (2024-09-10)
- SevenVentures invests in Food-Start-up Formo (2024-09-09)
- Formo bags $36m in venture debt to scale animal-free fermentation (2025-01-14)
- Formo raises $61m Series B, launches cheese featuring koji protein (2025-01-14)
- Formo raises US$61 million to scale Koji protein cheese (2026-07-19)
- Precision-fermented casein from Formo advances toward US market after FDA GRAS (2026-06-02)
- vegconomist (2026-01-08)
- PricePlow (2026-07-10)
- Funding dip for alt protein fermentation signals shift from promise to proof (2026-04-21)