Core Insights - Switzerland has ranked first in the global innovation index for 14 consecutive years since 2011, making it a significant source of innovation and the first strategic partner of China in innovation development and technology finance [2] - Planetary, a Swiss food technology company founded in 2021, focuses on developing mycelium protein fermentation technology to support industrial-scale biomass fermentation and provide mycelium protein raw materials [3][9] Company Overview - Planetary was co-founded by Marison Ian, who has over 40 years of experience in industrial fermentation, and David Brandes, who is also a co-founder of Peace of Meat [3] - The company offers upstream and downstream manufacturing services in the biomass fermentation and precision fermentation sectors, addressing the capacity bottleneck in the fermentation industry [7] Industry Context - Animal-based meat and dairy products account for over 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions and consume more than 30% of water resources and over 70% of agricultural land [5] - Fermentation-derived proteins are a more sustainable alternative, requiring less water and land, and producing lower greenhouse gas emissions [5] Technology and Production - Planetary utilizes proprietary BioBlocks™ fermentation technology and an AI platform for high-throughput screening and real-time monitoring of fungal strains and fermentation conditions [8] - The company’s mycelium protein has a PDCAAS (Protein Digestibility-Corrected Amino Acid Score) of 0.996, with a carbon dioxide equivalent of only 0.79 kg per kilogram of product, significantly lower than similar products [8] Market Presence - Planetary's first industrial-scale mycelium protein production facility is located in Alberg, Switzerland, which is currently the only industrial mycelium protein fermentation base in continental Europe [8] - In July 2025, Aldi Switzerland began selling new vegetarian chicken strips made from Planetary's fermented mycelium protein across 242 stores in Switzerland [9] Funding and Future Plans - In April 2022, Planetary completed a seed round financing of 7.5 million Swiss francs, led by Astanor Ventures, to initiate the construction of its flagship production facility in Switzerland [9] - The company plans to build and operate a global network of biomass fermentation capacity to overcome industry capacity bottlenecks [9]