Mycelium fermentation company Pacifico Biolabs has closed a €7 million Series A round to scale production to 200 tonnes per month and begin commercial launches across the DACH region and the Nordics.
The round was backed by Stray Dog Capital, Technologiegründerfonds Sachsen (TGFS), Sprout & About Ventures, Simon Capital, FoodLabs, and a regional brewery partner.
Repurposing idle brewing capacity
The core of Pacifico’s production model involves running its fermentation process directly in standard brewery tanks, without purpose-built bioreactors or significant facility modifications. As beer consumption across Europe continues to decline, many breweries are left with underutilised fermentation capacity. Pacifico is converting this into production infrastructure for its mycelium-based protein ingredient, reducing the capital expenditure that has constrained other companies in the alternative protein space.
The company, founded in November 2022 by Zac Austin and Washington Logroño, has relocated its headquarters to Leipzig, Saxony, to anchor production within that regional industrial base.
“We aren’t just building a food ingredient company, we’re putting European industrial infrastructure to work for the future of food. German brewing heritage meets modern industrial biotechnology. We’re using the hardware of the past to power the nutrition of the future,” stated Austin.
Sören Schuster of TGFS, the state-backed Saxon venture capital fund, noted the capital efficiency of the model. “Pacifico solves the industry’s scaling problem with an elegant, asset-light model. The combination of European sovereignty and high capital efficiency makes them a key player in the emerging bio-economy. Saxony provides the perfect ecosystem of skilled labor and industrial backbone to anchor this transition.”
B2B ingredient targeting cost parity
Pacifico’s mycelium ingredient is positioned as a clean-label, B2B input for food manufacturers, with a neutral flavour and a fibrous structure that the company says reduces the need for additives. Products are expected to reach retail via brand and retailer partners by late 2026.
Andres, Principal at Stray Dog Capital, stated, “After a decade backing alternative protein companies, we see Pacifico as a clear leader in overcoming the bottlenecks that have held back the category. By using existing infrastructure to produce clean-label, nutritious, and affordable meat alternatives that are indistinguishable from their animal counterparts, Pacifico offers a credible solution to a broken protein supply chain.”
The new funding will support expansion of the Leipzig team alongside its first commercial partnerships.
