South Korean alternative food and food-tech company INTAKE has successfully completed a Series C funding round, securing approximately 9.5 million USD(13.5 billion KRW). The investment round saw participation from seven institutional investors, including HB Investment, CJ Investment, Woori Venture Partners, KDB Capital, J-Curve Investment, Wonik Investment Partners, and Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) . INTAKE plans to allocate the newly raised capital toward research and development for expanding its microbe-based alternative protein business, as well as strengthening its global infrastructure.

Founded in 2013, INTAKE is a prominent food-tech startup specializing in both B2C alternative food products and B2B alternative protein solutions. In 2024, the company recorded revenues of approximately 15.8 million USD (22.4 billion KRW), achieving an annual sales growth rate of about 30%. Last year, INTAKE was also designated by the South Korean government as the lead institution for a national research project on alternative seaweed-based meat, valued at 4.2 million USD (6 billion KRW).

CJ Investment’s Senior Analyst Kim Hyun-kyu, one of the participants in this funding round, commented, “As consumer interest in healthy eating continues to rise, the industry’s focus on advancing alternative food technologies has surged. INTAKE, led by founders from Seoul National University’s Department of Food Science and Biotechnology, has leveraged its core patented technologies for alternative food materials and successful product commercialization, positioning it as a potential leader in the alternative food sector.”

INTAKE’s precision fermentation-based yeast cultivation technology, a cornerstone of third-generation protein sources, is gaining attention as a novel solution for human protein supply. Unaffected by climatic conditions and scalable for mass production, this technology enables INTAKE to produce primary protein powders that serve as the foundation for secondary alternative proteins, such as plant-based meat, eggs, and dairy. The company is accelerating its investment in technological development to support this expansion.

Using a naturally occurring GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) yeast strain identified and isolated from domestically grown grapes, INTAKE has developed a “super-protein” yeast variant through an eco-friendly adaptive evolution process. This strain boasts protein content 1.5 times higher than conventional yeast and is currently in the early stages of commercialization. Designed to replace whey protein entirely, this yeast-based protein material targets the global protein market, estimated at 24.6 billion USD(35 trillion KRW), with plans to enter the North American market by 2026.

INTAKE CEO Han Nok-yeop stated, “This investment is a testament to the trust that consumers and the market have placed in INTAKE’s alternative food technologies and products. With this funding, our goal is to finalize the development of core technologies that will position microbe-based alternative foods as a viable new option within the traditional food industry.”