Alternative Protein Solutions Database
Discover ideas for new startups, commercial ventures and products, research projects, ecosystem support, and investment opportunities for plant-based, cultivated, and fermentation-derived proteins.
Additional Filters
Cultivated
Fermentation
Plant-Based
| Opportunity | Production platform | Value chain segment | Technology sector | End product focus | Relevant actor | Maturity level | Solution category | Topic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
High-performance oxygen carriers for cultivated meat
Mammalian cell culture performance can be limited by oxygen and carbon dioxide levels or by shear stress associated with sparging and mixing. The use of protein-based oxygen carriers could help… |
Cultivated
|
R&D | Bioprocess design Cell culture media | Species-agnostic | Academics Startups | Commercial Research | Science | |
|
Directed evolution using Raman activated cell sorting
The combination of flow cytometry—which allows single cell analysis and sorting—with Raman spectroscopy—which allows crude biochemical analysis of cells—can be used to develop new strains of microorganisms with enriched protein,… |
Fermentation
|
R&D | Host strain development | Species-agnostic | Academics Industry Startups | Research | Science | |
|
Catalog of animal meat flavors
Creating a catalog of molecules responsible for the characteristic flavor of a species will enable alternative protein product manufacturers to create products that more accurately replicate the sensory experience of… |
Cultivated
Fermentation
Plant-Based
|
End Products Production R&D Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs | Crop development End product formulation & manufacturing Ingredient optimization Target molecule selection | Seafood-relevant | Academics GFI Industry NGO’s Startups | Commercial Ecosystem Research | Industry Science | |
|
Developing scalable, fit-for-purpose bioreactor and bioprocessing technologies for cultivated meat
Optimizing bioreactor and bioprocessing technologies for the needs of the cultivated meat industry has the potential to substantially reduce the cost of cultivated meat production. Innovations in cultivated meat bioprocessing… |
Cultivated
|
Production R&D | Bioprocess design | Species-agnostic | Academics Industry Startups | Commercial Research | Science | |
|
Cell line development from food-relevant aquatic species
A lack of publicly-available cell lines from relevant species and cell types continues to be a challenge for the field of cultivated seafood. Addressing this challenge will require further investigation… |
Cultivated
|
R&D Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs | Cell line development | Seafood | Academics Industry Startups | Research | Science | |
|
Optimizing fat profiles for nutritional and sensory properties
Because alternative meat’s fat content and fatty acid profile can be more easily controlled than conventional meat’s, there is an opportunity to alter fat content for nutritional benefits. Additional research… |
Cultivated
Fermentation
Plant-Based
|
End Products Production R&D | Cell culture media End product formulation & manufacturing Target molecule selection | Seafood-relevant | Academics Industry Startups | Commercial Research | Science | |
|
Mapping animal cell metabolism to optimize media formulation
The cost and environmental impact of cultivated meat are driven by the cell culture media formulation and its conversion efficiency into meat. Metabolic modeling and engineering techniques can aid media… |
Cultivated
|
Production R&D Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs | Cell culture media Cell line development | Species-agnostic | Academics Industry Startups | Commercial Research | ||
|
Incorporating growth factors into scaffolds to reduce costs and introduce spatial heterogeneity
Growth factors (GFs) can be incorporated into scaffolds as a strategy for both reducing costs and improving product quality of cultivated meat. Open-access research is needed to test the feasibility… |
Cultivated
|
End Products Production R&D | Scaffolding | Seafood-relevant | Academics Industry Startups | Commercial Research | ||
|
Scaffolds and structural approaches to optimize fat distribution and content in cultivated meat
The inclusion of fat and marbling in cultivated meat is likely to increase its flavor, texture, and consumer appeal. Structural approaches using edible microcarriers, hydrogels, and 3D bioprinting present promising… |
Cultivated
|
End Products Production R&D Raw Materials, Ingredients, & Inputs | Bioprocess design End product formulation & manufacturing Scaffolding | Species-agnostic | Academics Industry Startups | Commercial Research | Industry Science | |
|
Promoting stemness and proliferation in fish cell cultures
Efficient and cost-effective cultivated fish production will require precise optimization to encourage fast proliferation and highly efficient use of inputs while preventing premature differentiation. A variety of strategies can be… |
Cultivated
|
Production R&D | Cell culture media Cell line development | Seafood | Academics Industry Startups | Research | Science |
Get involved
If you’d like to fund a research project, work on any of these solutions, share information about related efforts that are already underway, or elevate new ideas for advancing the alternative protein industry, we’d love to hear from you!
Explore key innovation priorities
Review commercial whitespaces, research gaps, technological needs, and investment priorities at each stage of the alternative protein value chain.
How we built this
Full report
Delve into the full report on the motivation, methodology, rationale, and key findings and recommendations of the Solutions initiative.
Futures wheels analysis
Explore our framework for uncovering second-order or third-order consequences and implications of hypothetical future scenarios to support better decision-making in the present.
Future-proofing
Discover key findings from GFI’s premortem analysis of potential threats to the widespread adoption of alternative proteins, including strategies to avoid or mitigate the most pressing risks.