MAASH lands €12.15M to scale mycoprotein production in France
What's the deal? Brussels-based fermentation startup MAASHDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has raised €12.15 million to move its mycoprotein production to industrial scale. The package combines a €5.85 million equity round with public financing from Bpifrance, including €4.3 million through the Première Usine programme and a €2 million loan backed by France 2030.
Who's backing it? Five new investors joined the equity raise: Ambra Capital, InvestPro, Bpifrance, Amorçage Industriel, NordzuckerDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and TereosDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The last two are major sugar producers, signalling industrial-sector interest in fermentation.
What does MAASH do? Founded in 2021 by Frédéric Van Gansberghe and Gaspard Gilbert, the company develops LoCyliaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a fermentation-derived mycoprotein sold as a B2B ingredient. It works with food firms to cut meat content by 10 to 30%, or to build vegan and vegetarian products.
What's the money for? The funding will launch a 12m³ demonstration plant in Carling-Saint-Avold, France, and prepare a scale-up to 10,000 tonnes of annual industrial production. The site is the former Metabolic Explorer facility, which MAASH acquired two years ago.
New leadership. The startup appointed Samah Garringer as chief executive officer, effective September 2026. She brings more than 25 years of experience across food, ingredients, and nutrition, with prior executive roles at DSMDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Avril GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and ENOUGH FoodsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. Co-founder Gaspard Gilbert moves from managing director to chief commercial officer and acting chief finance officer.
Why now? Van Gansberghe said the company's "industrial fermentation experience, combined with the arrival of our new partners, will allow us to move quickly through our technical and commercial scale-up." Gilbert added that acquiring the former site "gave us an industrial base," and the raise marks the shift "from preparation to industrial deployment."
The signal: Backing from established sugar and food giants alongside French state-linked funds shows alternative-protein bets moving from lab promise toward cost-competitive industrial output — the stage where fermentation ingredients must prove they can scale.
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