On Jun. 4, 2025, Brazilian biotechnology startup company Future Cow, announced it can produce milk proteins without the need for cows. The company has the support of São Paulo Research Foundation’s Innovative Research in Small Businesses program.

Founded in 2023, Future Cow wants to transform the dairy market by using precision fermentation, a process that combines high technology, sustainability, and production efficiency. “Our mission is to make milk without a cow,” summarizes Leonardo Vieira, the company’s co-founder and CEO. “Precision fermentation is a technology similar to that used in the production of beer or wine.”

The entrepreneur explains that the technology involves identifying the genetic sequence in the animal’s DNA that provides instructions for producing the milk protein. The sequence is then copied and encoded in a host, which can be a fungus, yeast, or bacterium. The host then multiplies in a fermentation tank with a calorie source for nutrition.

The result is a liquid that, after being filtered and dried, is transformed into the initially programmed milk proteins. “These proteins serve as ingredients for the food and dairy industry, which can recombine the product to create various derivatives,” he explains.

The foodtech will use yeast as hosts to initially produce casein and whey protein, two of the main proteins found in milk. Casein is widely used in cheese and yogurt production, while whey is rich in protein and highly valued in the food supplement market. The startup will initially market the proteins it has already developed before expanding to other varieties