Melt&Marble

Melt&Marble, formerly known as Biopetrolia, was founded in 2016 as a patent holding firm for Co-founder Professor Jens Nielsen’s Systems and Synthetic Biology group at Chalmers University of Technology. 

In 2021, the company underwent a strategic shift, repositioning its focus toward the development of alternative fats tailored for plant-based meat applications. Using a combination of fermentation, metabolic engineering, synthetic biology, and high-throughput screening processes, Melt&Marble aimed to close the taste gap between plant-based and animal-based foods. In May 2022, Melt&Marble unveiled its yeast-fermented fat, possessing beef-fat-like properties. According to the company, this was a first of its kind and the technology used could be applied to developing other animal fats.

In March 2024, Melt&Marble announced a new headquarters housing molecular biology and microbiology labs, pilot-scale bioreactors, and a food application test kitchen. It intends to achieve commercial scale with this new facility and plans to commercialize its alternative fat product in the US by 2025, pending regulatory approval by the FDA.

Funding and financials

In May 2022, Melt&Marble secured EUR 5 million (approx. USD 5.27 million) in seed funding led by Lever VC with participation from existing and new investors. The funds are expected to scale up production and expand the team to expedite the commercialization of their fermentation-derived beef fat.