Planetary – Switzerland

Planetary is what we call the backbone of the bioeconomy.

We build really big bioreactors in which we can grow very small microbial organisms in order to produce a whole range of end applications, ranging, for example, from food to pharmaceutical products, fuels even, cosmetics, you name it.

Our first product is a so-called mycoprotein. It's a little fungal organism that we grow in this big bioreactor. And in the end you get a protein substance out
that you can use for food applications that we're currently commercializing here in Switzerland.

Our fermentation process, we start from a single cell that we have in cryovials, which we store at -80 degrees. And then we slowly have to increase the number of cells in smaller volumes. And when we have enough cells, we transfer those in our large 50 cubic (meter) production bioreactor in which we then cultivate it under a very controlled environment.

So initially when we set out, when we founded planetary, we knew that we want to be, let's say, production first, not an R&D company, but a company that really produces product at scale. But to build such a big factory is quite expensive.

We were looking for a 65 million (Swiss) francs upfront investment for something that has never been built before. So therefore we tried to be smart.
We started to think about where does actually the input come from into the fermentation process.

And that is sugar. So we connected very deeply with the sugar industries in Switzerland, but also beyond in Europe. Setting up the plant inside the plant allows the sugar company to utilize their infrastructure all year round.

One of the biggest challenges you always have is to scale up. So of course, you do a lot of research at smaller scale, like 2 or 3 liters in a lab.

But nothing, unfortunately, is linear when you scale it up. Initially, as an entrepreneur, you want to go out. You want to build things fast. You want to launch to market.

However, you learn quickly that there is some, you know, intellectual property, some know-how that needs protection. You first learn it from your investors that demand such first freedom to operate analysis and then also protectability of certain elements.

And then as we now actually scale our technology that we developed in-house from our fully owned plant here in Switzerland, into the world under a technology license, we need to make sure that that intellectual property does not leak outside of the defined parameters.

So we are now, of course, actively exploring how we can protect our know-how through patents, through trade secrets. So as you're fundraising, you need to show that you have your IP sufficiently protected.

Mycoprotein is produced, you know, in a very small confinement, basically just in a bioreactor. So way less carbon emissions, way less water use and way less land use than the traditional animal meat production system.

We're now here in Switzerland but we will launch plants soon, both in Asia and in North America. And at the same time, we also want to extend our product offering from not just food or the mycoprotein domain into what we call sustainable products.

For example, think about sustainable bioplastics produced without fossil fuel inputs. Because with the way how the population is growing there is no way we can consume the way we consume food nowadays in 20 years, it will be impossible.

So we need to step back and find alternatives.