Senara, a biotech startup founded in Freiburg in 2022, is opening its second location in Maastricht with an investment from LIOF and has started a new funding round for a future pilot site in the city.
Senara is expanding to Maastricht with an investment from LIOF, which announced the deal on 23 October. The German company plans to use the Dutch site to scale its cell-cultivated dairy technology towards production and market launch.
The startup was founded in Freiburg in 2022. It grows milk-producing cells in a bioreactor, where the cells produce milk in the same way they do in the udder. According to the announcement, the method can use less space and energy, shorten logistics chains and bring production and processing together in one location.
"We don't want to change milk, but improve how it is produced," said chief executive Dr Svenja Dannewitz (translated from Dutch). The announcement adds that, in time, farmers could run the bioreactor technology on their own farms and so remain part of the food system.
The LIOF investment comes with Maastricht becoming Senara's second location, which gives the company access to specialised knowledge, talent, infrastructure and partners in the region. Senara has its sights on a future pilot site of its own in Maastricht and has started a new funding round for it.
Annemoon Borst, investment manager at LIOF, placed Senara among the European front runners in cell-cultivated dairy and said the company aims to keep growing internationally. LIOF said the startup fits its ambition to link international entrepreneurs to the ecosystems in which Limburg stands out.
On the product side, Senara is exploring uses such as ice cream, cheese and panna cotta, and is working with international food producers to extend into other products. It also sees non-food applications, for example ingredients for cosmetics and skincare. The company views that market as a faster route to launch, running in parallel with the more strictly regulated food domain. For food, Senara expects its first products could reach supermarket shelves within a few years.
The move places Senara in a region that has built a strong international position in cellular agriculture. According to LIOF, the first cultivated burger was developed in Maastricht more than ten years ago. The local network now includes Maastricht University, Brightlands Maastricht Health Campus, Mosa Meat and Cultivate at Scale, an independent open-access facility where companies can scale up cell culture processes without first building costly production plants of their own.
Original source: LIOF (press release), "Senara ontvangt LIOF-investering voor opschaling van cell-cultivated zuivel"
