Investor Profile: FoodLabs — Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

FoodLabs is a Berlin-based early-stage venture capital investor and venture studio that builds and backs companies reinventing the food system. Founded in 2016 by serial entrepreneur Christophe F. Maire, it invests from day zero across food, health, climate and the broader bioeconomy, pairing capital with a company-building team. For science-driven founders, FoodLabs funding offers something unusual: an investor that will help found the company, not just fund it.

Thesis: reinventing the world's largest industry

FoodLabs argues that food is the world's second-biggest industry, employs more people than almost any other sector, and remains largely undigitised and unsustainable. It backs tech- and science-driven founders working on AI and software to design or understand biology faster, technologies that reinvent how food, agriculture and materials are produced, and the software stack that orchestrates massive real-economy markets. Its focus spans consumer products, food supply chains and infrastructure, health, agriculture, livestock farming, climate and synthetic biology.

The studio model is central. In the FoodLabs Studio, the team identifies opportunities, works with entrepreneurs and scientists to validate ideas, and supports ventures with growth strategy, go-to-market, fundraising, people and marketing. Entrepreneurs in residence receive financial support and, on incorporation, pre-seed funding from FoodLabs, making it a genuine co-founding route for researchers who have an idea but not yet a company.

Fund size and cheque size

FoodLabs closed its third fund at more than €105 million, its largest to date, to back early-stage food technology startups in Europe. The fund focuses on three pillars: agriculture, food security and health. Backers named for the fund include Bitburger Holding, Nestlé, Red Bull, REWE Group, Henkel and Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank, Germany's development bank for rural industries. A single standard cheque size is not publicly disclosed, as the firm invests across pre-seed and seed stages and also co-founds studio ventures with pre-seed funding.

Notable portfolio companies

FoodLabs has built and invested in more than 80 early-stage companies since 2016. Its portfolio includes Formo, which makes animal-free cheese using precision fermentation; Klim, a regenerative agriculture platform; and Infinite Roots, formerly Mushlabs, known for mycelium-based meat alternatives. Other named portfolio companies include InPlanet, Project Eaden, Voltrac, which develops autonomous electric tractors, and Meatable, working on cultivated meat.

Partners and approach

Founder Christophe F. Maire previously built companies including Gate5 and Plazes, and also founded Atlantic Labs, bringing a product-builder mindset to venture investing. General partner Patrick Noller has spoken publicly about the firm's conviction that food's problems have only grown larger even as sustainability fundraising has become harder, which is why the firm stays focused on the sector rather than chasing hype cycles. FoodLabs describes its approach as going beyond capital, offering a deep sector network, operational support and a builder mindset.

How to apply for funding

FoodLabs does not publish a single open application portal, but it runs two clear routes for founders. Established early-stage teams can approach the investment team through its official website at foodlabs.com. Researchers and aspiring founders can apply for entrepreneur-in-residence and co-founder roles advertised on the same site, where FoodLabs recruits scientific co-founders and founders to build new ventures from scratch with studio support and pre-seed funding.