Directory

Alternative Protein startup ecosystem

We track 5 organisations in this sector across 2+ countries.

5 entries.

Christoph Jenny

Zurich, Switzerland · Person

Co-founder and CEO of Planted, the Zurich-based food technology company he co-founded in 2019 as an ETH Zurich spin-out. Jenny led Planted through a CHF 70 million Series B in 2021 and expanded the company's plant-based meat products across Swiss supermarkets, Germany, and European food service channels. Planted's wet extrusion technology, developed from ETH Zurich research, produces fibrous plant-based textures that closely mimic animal protein.

Eric Stirnemann

Zurich, Switzerland · Person

Co-founder of Planted, the Zurich-based food technology company he co-founded in 2019 from ETH Zurich research. Stirnemann's background in food engineering contributed to the development of Planted's proprietary wet extrusion platform for plant-based meat. The company raised CHF 70 million in 2021 and distributes products across Switzerland, Germany, and broader European markets.

Juicy Marbles

Ljubljana, Slovenia · Startup

Juicy Marbles was founded in 2019 by Maj Hrovat, Luka Sinček, and Tilen Travnik and produces whole-cut, plant-based meat products including a flagship vegan filet mignon and marbled steaks made primarily from soy protein. The company raised $4.5 million in a seed round in 2021 backed by investors including Y Combinator. Its products are sold in approximately 3,500 stores across Europe and North America through retailers including Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Whole Foods, Migros, and Lidl. Production is carried out by BEVO d.o.o. in Slovenia.

Pascal Bieri

Zurich, Switzerland · Person

Co-founder of Planted, the Zurich-based alternative protein company he co-founded in 2019 as an ETH Zurich spin-out. Bieri contributed the food science foundation that underpins Planted's wet extrusion platform. Planted's products — planted.chicken, planted.pulled, planted.kebab — are sold in leading Swiss and German retailers and food service chains.

Planted

Zurich, Switzerland · Startup

Planted is a Zurich-based food technology company founded in 2019 by Christoph Jenny, Pascal Bieri, Eric Stirnemann, and Judith Wemmer as a spin-out from ETH Zurich. The company produces plant-based meat alternatives using a wet extrusion technology that creates fibrous textures closely mimicking animal proteins. Planted's products — planted.chicken, planted.pulled, and planted.kebab — are sold in supermarkets, restaurants, and food service channels across Switzerland, Germany, and neighbouring European markets. The company raised CHF 70 million in a Series B round in 2021 from investors including Vorwerk Ventures and Movendo Capital. Planted is part of the broader ETH Zurich food-tech cluster and is considered one of Europe's most technically sophisticated alternative protein companies, combining deep food science with aggressive consumer distribution.