“Molecular farming is the new kid on the block of alternative protein. This is a new category that lets us use plants as bioreactors” to produce complex proteins, which is a “great idea,” but also difficult to execute efficiently and economically, according to company Co-founder Dafna Gabbay.
She explained at Future Food-Tech in Chicago that while several companies are exploring molecular farming to produce proteins more sustainably than conventional methods, the process for many companies is slowed by agronomic limitations – including long growth cycles between trials to test and perfect genetic modifications to plant seed DNA to produce the desired protein in a crop.
Exclusive access to AI minimized trial and error
But Finally Foods was able to quickly launch its first field trial in Southern Isreal in February – less than a year after it emerged from stealth mode – thanks in large part to its exclusive access to an AI platform developed by Evogene, which is a key stakeholder in the company and whose founder Basia Vinocur also co-founded Finally Foods.
“It is not the AI that you think of. It is more of a computational biology system” that “has all the DNA, RNA and proteins in the world on the animal side and plant side open to us,” Gabbay said.
She adds that Vinocur, and several other members of Finally Foods’ five-person team, know the AI system “in and out,” which means they could quickly screen all the types of casein proteins produced by mammals to identify which sequence to insert into their potato for the best results – effectively reducing trial and error over multiple crop cycles.
“All the upfront planning is done,” so unlike other companies that may need to modify DNA multiple times and wait for the crop to grow, Finally Foods “from the get-go knew what we were doing,” Gabbay said.
In addition to exclusive access to the platform, Finally Foods subcontracts with Evogene to perform the genetic modification in the lab.
“This is an amazing tool,” and partnership that allowed Finally Foods to design its potato as an expression system within five months, Gabbay added.
Wanted: Early adopters to test product concepts
The company is now working on more complicated protein configurations and casein formulations for additional field trials.
In addition, it is “playing” with the casein powders extracted from its potatoes in different potential applications with its commercial partners and expects the first few products with its ingredients to hit the market in 2027 or 2028, Gabbay said.
“We are definitely ready to partner” with companies interested in using Finally Foods’ casein, she added
‘Not making a decision is making a decision’
The partnership between Gabbay and Vinocur also is successful because each side brought complementary skills and experiences.
While Vinocur supplied the AI platform, Gabbay brought real world experience successfully managing a startup.
“This is my second startup, and the second time is much easier. You know what you are doing. You know what to expect. You know to expect the unexpected,” Gabbay said.
Reflecting on her first startup experience, Gabbay advises other entrepreneurs to “listen to the right people” but ultimately “trust your guts” and most importantly – proactively make decisions.
“Not making a decision is making a decision,” she explained. “To me, part of the role of a CEO and co-founder is to make decisions – because that is the only way you move forward.”
Her other advice for new founders: “Be resilient. You have to have stamina. You have to be prepared for a journey. You have to enjoy it when it is successful and try to separate your ego as much as you can from the business” so that when it struggles “you can continue to lead.”
