Fugeia, a new functional food technology business with a focus on gut health, has received a cash investment of €3.5 million (£2.8 million) from Tate & Lyle Ventures and Agri Investment Fund.

Fugeia, a new functional food technology business with a focus on gut health, has received a cash investment of €3.5 million (£2.8 million) from Tate & Lyle Ventures and Agri Investment Fund.

Willem Broekaert, Fugeia founder and CEO, said: “The strong financial position and backing by a consortium of experienced investors with excellent insight in the food industry puts the company well on track to become a high impact player in gut health technologies.”   

Based in Leuven, Belgium, Fugeia is a spin-out from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and the University College Sint-Lieven.

“Fugeia already has a promising ingredient in the pipeline. With strong clinical data to support its pre-biotic effect and robust intellectual property, it is hoped that this product will prove to be a step-changing ingredient in the development of fibre-enhanced foods,” said David Atkinson of Tate & Lyle Ventures.
 
Luc Basstanie of Agri Investment Fund added: “Agricultural products have a high intrinsic value and thanks to Fugeia’s technology a range of new ingredients from wheat bran is now available, which can be used in daily food products to benefit human health.”

Baker Tilly Belgium’s team was led by legal partner Anne Roucourt. She said: “We were introduced to the deal by KU Leuven as our firm frequently advises university spin-outs, we were well placed to assist the entrepreneurs through the negotiation process.”