In December 2025, something exciting caught my attention as someone who has spent years in the startup space: a Swedish biotech company called Melt&Marble made headlines by securing €7.3 million in funding. This milestone highlights not just a solid business opportunity but a growing trend that offers huge potential to entrepreneurs working in food tech, beauty, or sustainable materials. Melt&Marble is using precision fermentation to create designer fats, animal-free, sustainable, and tailored for multiple industries. If you're looking to enter or expand in these markets, read on to see how they are breaking new ground.
Why Their Success Matters
When I co-founded startups, one thing became clear: timing is everything. Melt&Marble is positioning itself at the sweet spot where consumer demands shift strongly toward sustainable and ethical products. The global oils and fats market is valued at over $100 billion, and there’s increasing frustration with traditional sources like palm oil and animal fats, which come with sustainability and supply chain issues. Melt&Marble’s products are designed to solve these challenges by engineering fats specifically for both functionality and ethics.
Their investors include Industrifonden, a deeptech-focused VC, the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund, and strategic players like Beiersdorf, known for brands like Nivea, as well as Valio, a major Finnish dairy producer. With backers like these, it’s clear Melt&Marble has caught the attention of key players across various industries.
What Makes This Business Model Stand Out?
1. Precision Fermentation as a Game Changer
Using precision fermentation, Melt&Marble can design fats molecule by molecule. This means their products can be optimized for specific needs, whether that’s a creamy texture for plant-based chocolate or a smooth skin-feel for cosmetics.
2. Targeting Multiple Billion-Euro Markets
Their product pipeline goes beyond food, it includes beauty products such as skincare and haircare. Think of how many industries rely on fats for texture, moisture retention, or density. This diversification massively reduces their business risk.
3. Low-Capital Expansion
A huge takeaway for other entrepreneurs is their capex-light production approach. By working with existing manufacturing partners instead of building their own facilities, they're scaling more efficiently. This model is adaptable for startups looking to avoid high upfront investments while rapidly deploying their product.
How Can You Apply These Insights to Your Business?
Are you an entrepreneur in food tech or beauty? Or maybe you’re just interested in building a more sustainable product-based startup? Here's my actionable guide based on Melt&Marble’s approach:
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Focus on Market Gaps
Take a hard look at industries with resource constraints or sustainability issues, like palm oil in food production or mineral oils in cosmetics. Build a product that solves a real problem. Melt&Marble is solving not just one issue, but several, sustainability, supply chain reliance, and performance. -
Collaborate to Keep Costs Down
Don’t try to reinvent the wheel if you can avoid it. Melt&Marble partnered with commercial manufacturers to scale production without spending millions on their own facilities. Identify contract manufacturing options in your niche. -
Leverage Cross-Sector Appeal
Build a product with applications across multiple industries, just like designer fats that fit equally well into food and cosmetics. If your product addresses a widely shared need, be it sustainability, cost savings, or performance enhancement, you widen your revenue streams. -
Secure Strategic Partners Early
Having backing from titans like Beiersdorf gives immediate credibility. Think about which companies in your industry would benefit from a strategic partnership with you. Approach these players once you’ve validated your idea.
The Numbers That Tell the Story
It’s useful to dig into the stats if you’re serious about replicating or learning from Melt&Marble. They raised €7.3 million in Series A funding, which included venture capital from Industrifonden and support from EIC. This followed an additional €2.5 million grant from the EIC Accelerator. Such financial backing shows just how serious investors are about the potential of precision fermentation.
Additionally, their focus on Europe and plans to penetrate the U.S. market hint at strategic scalability. With Europe offering regulatory support, and the U.S. having quicker food-market approval processes, their dual-market focus could pay off handsomely by 2026 when their first products are set to launch.
Mistakes to Avoid
Let’s be real, starting or scaling a biotech-inspired startup like this isn’t easy. But some pitfalls are avoidable if you learn from others’ journeys:
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Neglecting Regulatory Roadblocks
Biotech and food tech require extensive regulatory clearances. Start early, as this can delay launches by years. Melt&Marble’s focus on securing approvals now will allow them to hit the market on time. -
Ignoring the End-User Experience
Simply being sustainable isn’t enough. Whether it’s skincare or food, the final product still has to feel good, taste good, or serve its purpose even better than traditional alternatives. -
Overbuilding Early
A scalable production model, like the one Melt&Marble uses, avoids heavy upfront costs. Don’t get trapped in an over-engineering spiral trying to perfect laboratory methods or manufacturing setups.
What’s Next for Entrepreneurs?
If you’re inspired by Melt&Marble, ask yourself these questions next:
- Can I identify a resource-intensive process or input in my industry (like fats or oils) and improve it with science?
- Do I have clear use cases across multiple industries? This validates your idea to a wider set of investors.
- Am I collaborating with the right commercial and strategic partners from day one? Resources can multiply if you’re aligned with key players.
In my view, Melt&Marble represents a blend of scientific precision and practical business strategy. They’re not just inventing a tech-heavy solution, they have a clear vision for scalability, profitability, and market fit. If you run a startup or plan to launch one, the lessons from Melt&Marble’s approach could help you make more informed decisions and plan for sustainable growth in competitive and fast-moving markets.
FAQ
1. What is Melt&Marble, and what do they do?
Melt&Marble is a Swedish biotech company specializing in precision fermentation to create "designer fats" , sustainable, animal-free fats tailored for applications in food and personal care industries. Visit Melt&Marble
2. How much funding has Melt&Marble received recently?
In December 2025, Melt&Marble secured €7.3 million in Series A funding, in addition to a €2.5 million grant from the EIC Accelerator in 2024, for a total of €10 million over the past year. Learn about their funding on EU-Startups
3. Who are Melt&Marble's main investors?
Melt&Marble's investors include Industrifonden, the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund, and strategic partners such as Beiersdorf (owner of Nivea) and Valio (Finnish dairy producer). Explore details about Beiersdorf's involvement | Learn about Valio’s partnership
4. What industries can benefit from Melt&Marble's designer fats?
Their fats have multiple applications in the food (alternative meat, dairy, chocolate, bakery) and beauty (skincare, haircare) industries owing to their functionality and sustainability. Detailed insights on Food Ingredients First
5. When will Melt&Marble's products hit the market?
Melt&Marble plans to commercially launch its first products in personal care applications (e.g., skincare) by 2026.
6. How is Melt&Marble's production approach efficient?
They utilize a capex-light model by partnering with existing manufacturing facilities instead of building their own, enabling cost-efficient scalability. Learn more from EU-Startups
7. What makes Melt&Marble's technology unique?
Melt&Marble uses precision fermentation to design fats molecule by molecule. This allows customization for specific purposes, such as enhancing mouthfeel in food or bioactivity in cosmetics. Explore their tech vision
8. What are the primary market drivers for Melt&Marble’s success?
The demand for sustainable and ethical alternatives to conventional oils and fats, such as palm or animal fats, is fueling interest in their products from both food and beauty industries. Read more about the market on Silicon Republic
9. What are Melt&Marble's plans for international market expansion?
The company is focusing on Europe for initial launches, with plans to enter the US market where faster regulatory pathways for food ingredients exist. Insights on market expansion from Protein Production Technology
10. What are the risks or challenges for startups like Melt&Marble?
Challenges include navigating regulatory roadblocks, ensuring the end-user experience meets expectations, and avoiding overbuilding infrastructure during early stages. Get lessons for biotech startups on Personal Care Insights
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.
About the Publication
Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.
Mission and Purpose
Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.
Key Features
The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
- Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
- Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
- AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
- SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
- Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
- Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials
Impact and Growth
Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:
- 5,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
- 100+ startup tools built
- 5,000+ pieces of articles and news written
- 1,000 unique business ideas for women created
Partnerships
Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.
Recognition
Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.