Millow Closes €2 Million Round as Core Mycelium-Protein Patent Clears Opposition
- Marc Violo
- Aug 13
- 3 min read
Swedish foodtech company Millow has raised €2 million to expand production and build out its commercial team for the Nordic foodservice market.
The company's solid-state fermentation process converts Swedish oats and mycelium into a two-ingredient, clean-label protein with a carbon footprint independently verified at 0.3 kg CO₂e per kilogram, roughly 98% lower than Swedish beef.
The round coincides with the unopposed expiry of the opposition window for Millow's core European patent, strengthening the IP position protecting its low-water production method.
A Gothenburg Bet on Fungi for Foodservice
Millow, a Gothenburg-based foodtech company founded in 2020, has closed a €2 million funding round led by serial entrepreneur and angel investor Magnus Emilson. Joining him is Jan Enhager, co-founder of Vitamin Well, the functional-nutrition group behind NOCCO and Barebells, which generates approximately €650 million in annual revenue. Enhager takes both a financial stake and a formal strategic adviser role alongside CEO Fredrik Öhrn. Two co-founders of Swedish technology companies with combined exits exceeding $2 billion, together with strategic private investors from the Swedish food sector, also participated.
The capital will fund an expansion of Millow's production capacity and the build-out of a commercial team focused on the Nordic foodservice market, with the company describing active discussions with major foodservice operators and distributors in the region. International interest is noted but not yet formalised in the announcement.
What Millow Makes and How
Millow's process is built on solid-state fermentation, a technique in which fungi grow on a solid substrate rather than in liquid tanks. The company ferments Swedish oats with mycelium to produce a protein ingredient made from just two core components, with no binders or additives. Water consumption runs at 3 to 4 litres per kilogram of product, which the patent specifically protects as a low-water method.
The carbon footprint, independently verified by RISE (the Research Institutes of Sweden), sits at 0.3 kg CO₂e per kilogram. The press release frames this as approximately 98% lower than Swedish beef, though direct comparisons across protein categories depend on the precise methodology and functional unit applied. The company also notes that its fermentation platform can process industrial side streams, not only oats, which it positions as a route toward greater circularity. Solid-state fermentation is attracting broader interest across biotech as a lower-resource alternative to submerged liquid fermentation.
The ingredient is aimed squarely at professional kitchens. Millow characterises its product as fungal rather than plant-based, and emphasises that it handles like formats chefs already use, framing culinary familiarity as a commercial advantage rather than a secondary concern.
Patent Security and Investor Credentials
Alongside the funding announcement, the European Patent Office has confirmed that the nine-month opposition period for Millow's core patent, EP 4 307 913, closed without any oppositions being filed. The patent protects the low-water production method central to the company's process. An unopposed patent does not guarantee the absence of future legal challenges, but the clean opposition window reduces a material near-term risk for investors and prospective commercial partners.
Emilson brings more than 25 years of entrepreneurial history, including co-founding the internet consultancy Mind in 1996 and taking early stakes in TradeDoubler and NA-KD. He is also founder of Visit Group and co-founder of ESS Group, which operates around 14 destination hotels and resorts across Sweden, Norway and Denmark. His hospitality background is presented as directly relevant to Millow's foodservice-first strategy. Enhager's point of reference is the trajectory of Vitamin Well: a functional product that moved from niche to mainstream once taste and format were right.
Millow is backed by the EU's EIC Accelerator and builds on more than 25 years of fermentation and fungi-based protein research. The company is one of a growing number of mycelium protein startups attracting investor attention across Europe as the category matures. Whether the Nordic foodservice market provides the commercial proof needed to unlock the international expansion the company is eyeing will be the next test of that thesis.
