Our investment in Senara

The global dairy market is worth several hundred billion dollars, with cow milk taking the largest share. However, the dairy industry is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for about 4% of global emissions. This is primarily due to methane produced by cows, energy required for feed production and high land use required for grazing and feed crop production. A staggering 900 liters of water is required to produce one liter of milk. Of all antibiotics used today, 80% goes to animals such as dairy cows. And most milk is produced from cows who lead an objectively miserable life. 

The emergence of cultured dairy, which involves growing cells in a bioreactor, presents an opportunity to address all of these issues. The cultivation of dairy requires a few cells taken from a cow (with minimal harm), multiply them in a nutrient rich medium, and then mimicking the environment of the mammary glands in order for those cells to produce and secrete real milk. 

But those last steps turn out to be super hard - getting the cells to secrete milk with the right composition and keeping the cells alive and healthy long enough have been unsolved scientific challenges to date - no company has yet managed to produce a full milk equivalent.

Dr. Svenja Dannewitz and Dr. Philipp Prosseda, a married couple with complementary backgrounds in the biosciences, are setting out to change this. Based on their research on mammalian cells, Svenja and Philipp have developed an understanding of the exact circumstances of how cells in the mammary gland of mammals can survive and prosper. They have translated this understanding into a novel bioreactor design which will enable the secretion of real milk. 

The opportunity is not limited to cow’s milk - Senara can also apply this technology to cells from other mammals such as buffaloes and goats. And once you have real milk, it opens up the opportunity to process this, e.g. to create delicious, cultivated buffalo mozzarella.

Keeping culinary traditions alive for a growing population - without the environmental harm that the food production is causing today.

A long road ahead will remain to develop the right milk composition and to optimize the bioreactor for large-scale production, ensuring availability at a competitive price. However, If the technological promise holds true, Senara's technology has the potential to significantly change the dairy market and provide a real replacement for factory-farmed milk.  

We are excited to back Svenja & Philipp on their journey!

Media coverage: Foodnavigator, Green Queen