Many MindedSenara opens Maastricht hub with Limburg development money for lab-grown dairy
Senara, a German startup making cell-cultured dairy for food and personal care, has opened a second location: a hub in Maastricht, Netherlands. The move is backed by an investment from LIOF, the regional development agency of the Dutch province of Limburg. The amount was not disclosed. Senara was founded in 2022 by Svenja Dannewitz, who is CEO, and her husband Philipp Prosseda.
The company takes cells from the milk animals produce, not from the animals' bodies. It selects cells through a continuous, high-throughput method and grows them in a custom bioreactor. Senara says the result has no GMOs and contains lactose, casein, whey and micronutrients. It is exploring ice cream, cheese and panna cotta with global food manufacturers, and has floated milks from goats, buffaloes, sheep, donkeys and bison, plus variants such as A2-protein or lactose-free.
Why it matters: dairy protein that does not depend on keeping livestock could eventually become cheaper and easier to produce. Public money for scale-up is the kind of support that helps. Maastricht also hosts Mosa Meat and Cultivate at Scale, an open-access cell-culture scale-up facility. Nothing here yet lowers a price or puts a product on a shelf.
What to watch: Senara currently runs a 100-litre pilot bioreactor and has earlier indicated an industrial-scale bioreactor by 2028. It has launched a funding round for a possible pilot manufacturing site in Maastricht. The company sees cosmetics and skincare as a faster route to market than food, which is more strictly regulated, but still aims for grocery products within a few years. No firm date is given. Cost and climate claims are the company's own and unverified. Canadian rival Opalia is due to deliver a first batch of cell-based whole milk to Dutch dairy firm Hoogwegt next month.
Source: Green Queen