An old innovation meets modern biotech

Enifer is a biotech start-up based in Espoo, Finland, founded in 2020. We harness the power of fungal fermentation to upcycle agrifood industry byproducts into nutritious mycoprotein ingredients.

We’re building on a proud history of Finnish innovation – our PEKILO® process was originally developed and commercialized already in 1975! We’ve taken this ingenious piece of engineering many steps further and are ready to feed the world.

1963

In the 1960s the world was expected to run out of protein in the face of exponential population growth. This spurred scientists to look for new ways to produce protein.

In Finland, research started on converting forest industry side streams into protein using fungi.

1975

After 12 years of lab work, scale-up, animal trials and piloting, the world’s first mycoprotein factory was built in Jämsänkoski, Finland.

The plant produced up to 10.000 tons of PEKILO®-mycoprotein from spent sulfite liquor, a by-product from paper making

1991

PEKILO®-production in Finland ends. No more by-products are available from the pulp&paper industry, and integration into globalizing markets brings in cheap imported soya for food and feed

2020

A group of scientists from the Technical Research Centre of Finland decide to revive the production of PEKILO® – the Original Mycoprotein. The fungus that has been dormant at -80C for three decades, is woken up to feed the world again. The company Enifer is launched to drive development and commercialization.

The past, present and future of PEKILO®.

Our technology

At the heart of our process is the PEKILO® fungus, which we grow in tanks in a process that resembles brewing. We use fungi’s remarkable ability to grow on just about anything to upcycle agri-food industry by-products into sustainable, nutritious mycoprotein ingredients.

Investors

Nordic Foodtech VC
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Aqua Spark
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Voima Ventures
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VTT Holding
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Taaleri Bioindustry
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Transforming circular economy by-products into planet friendly protein.

Our impact

No virgin raw materials: The PEKILO® process is unique among mycoproteins in using a wide range of by-product streams as raw material. Our process can run on renewable energy, making our overall CO2 footprint very low. Unlike growing plants, our process also does not require new land to be used and the water use is neglible.

Team

During the past few years we have grown into a team of 22, bringing in amazing experts in food science, industrial engineering, finance and more.

Founders

Simo Ellilä
CEO
simo.ellila@enifer.com
Joosu Kuivanen
COO
joosu.kuivanen@enifer.com
Heikki Keskitalo
Business Development Manager
heikki.keskitalo@enifer.com
Ville Pihlajaniemi
Chief Technology Officer
ville.pihlajaniemi@enifer.com
Anssi Rantasalo
Chief Scientific Officer
anssi.rantasalo@enifer.com

Board of directors

Mika Kukkurainen
Nordic Foodtech VC
Theo Janssen
Aqua Spark
Pontus Stråhlman
Voima Ventures
Simo Ellilä
CEO & Co-founder at Enifer
Esmé Fantozzi
Founder of Aklys Transform

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