Investors put £3.5m in pot for low-fat food technology

A company which replaces fats and oils in food with water to cut down on calories has secured £3.5 million in seed investment.
MicroLub, a University of Leeds spinout, tempted David Peters, its chief executive, into the business by feeding him a three-course meal, including cheese, a plant-based burger and chocolate ganache.
It now hopes to capitalise on consumer demand for healthier, more sustainable food options.
The funding round was led by Northern Gritstone and supported by co-investors Praetura Equity Finance, managed by Praetura Ventures, and LIFTT, an Italian fund.
Founded by Professor Anwesha Sarkar, of the School of Food Science and Nutrition in Leeds, MicroLub’s technology uses protein and water-based “scaffolds” coated with polysaccharides to replicate the creamy texture provided by fats and oils.
Sarkar said: “We wondered, why don’t we think about using water to reduce friction? And that’s where the idea of MicroLub came from. It can give you a very massive reduction in friction, orders of magnitude reduction in friction without using a single drop of fat.”
She continues to teach at the university and the day-to-day running of the company is managed by Peters, a food specialist, who says he was impressed by the quality of the food.
“They prepared some full-fat samples and some samples with reduced fat, 50 per cent, even 75 per cent in one case,” he said. “I couldn’t tell the difference between them. For me, that was an incredible validation of what they were doing.
“One of the beauties of the technology is that people don’t have to change their eating habits. They can still carry on enjoying the same products. They’re not going to be able to distinguish the fact that they’re now with much reduced fat content.”
There are four permanent team members, though others from Sarkar’s lab are involved, and the company plans to hire three more in the near term.
Duncan Johnson, chief executive of Northern Gritstone, said: “Obesity is a challenge in many countries, reducing the quality of life of an individual and often shortening it. MicroLub shows that innovation coming out of the University of Leeds has the potential to help solve these global challenges.”
Two of the backers for this funding round are focused on companies emerging from the north of England.
Chaired by Lord O’Neill of Gatley and established in 2021 by the Universities of Leeds, Manchester, and Sheffield, Northern Gritstone is focused on supporting early-stage science and technology businesses.
Similarly, Praetura is focused on providing early-stage funding and support to high-growth businesses, particularly those in the north of England.
MicroLub plans to continue its connection with Leeds University. “We’ll be renting lab space from the university and we’ll also be located in a building which has been set up for university spinouts and other start-ups based here”, Peters said. “That’s really helpful to be able to tap into those resources you know in a familiar environment.”