Developing alternative proteins depends not only on good ideas, but also on concrete conditions that allow researchers access to funding, infrastructure, and collaborative networks capable of transforming scientific knowledge into innovation.
It was with this objective that GFI Brazil and the Araucária Foundation launched the country's first matchfunding initiative dedicated exclusively to research in alternative proteins.
The Program to Promote Research in Alternative Proteins: Innovation and Sustainability in Paraná combines philanthropic and public resources to fund research focused on the main technological challenges in the sector.
The initiative creates a strategic partnership that benefits both the sector and the state. For the alternative protein sector, the program helps direct resources to scientific and technological bottlenecks that need to be overcome so that new ingredients and products reach the market with better taste, scale, and cost. For the State of Paraná, the partnership strengthens the capacity to invest in science, technology, and innovation in areas directly connected to its local competencies, productive vocations, and strategic priorities.
With an investment of approximately R$ 2 million – half originating from the GFI donor community and the other half from the Araucária Foundation – four projects from universities in Paraná were selected to develop solutions in the areas of fermentation, mycoproteins, and cellular agriculture.
Research began in April 2026 and focuses on accessible and scalable technologies for the development of meat-like ingredients and products.
A new model for funding science and innovation.
More than just funding individual projects, the initiative inaugurates a new model of collaboration between philanthropy and the public sector to strengthen Brazilian science in strategic areas.
This is one of the main strengths of the program developed by GFI Brazil: combining philanthropic and public resources to generate solutions that simultaneously meet the needs of the sector and the priorities of the states. Research Support Foundations have the mission of funding science, technology, and innovation in their territories. By connecting to this agenda, they can direct resources to topics such as food innovation, food security, climate, the environment, emissions reduction, more efficient use of natural resources, and knowledge-based economic development.
The GFI Brazil pilot project
For The Good Food Institute Brazil, the partnership with FAPs (State Research Support Foundations) is an important strategy to direct resources, strengthen national science, and accelerate the development of alternative protein solutions. The model allows each state to invest based on its own needs and potential, connecting universities, researchers, industry, startups, and local production chains.
In addition to developing solutions that can benefit the state itself, the supported projects can also generate knowledge, technologies, and new businesses with national and international impact. Brazil combines biodiversity, scientific capacity, agricultural production, a food industry, and entrepreneurial talent to become a global leader in this field. To achieve this, it is essential to build mechanisms capable of transforming this potential into concrete innovation.
The program with the Araucária Foundation is an important first step in this direction. It shows that it is possible to create a shared agenda between philanthropy and public investment to accelerate research, strengthen local ecosystems, and open new paths for the future of food.
Discover the selected projects:
1. Mycoprotein production from agro-industrial waste
Coordinated by Dr. Edvaldo Antonio Ribeiro Rosa , Full Professor of Microbiology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (PUCPR), the project seeks to develop a mycoprotein production process using byproducts from the starch industry and the sugar-energy sector.
The research will evaluate ways to scale up this process and its application in meat-like foods, contributing to the development of ingredients produced from low-cost raw materials, using a fungus considered safe for consumption and making better use of agro-industrial by-products.
Project team
- Coordination: Dr. Edvaldo Antonio Ribeiro Rosa (PUCPR)
- Researchers: Dr. Luiz Fernando Bianchini (PUCPR) and Eduardo Sydney (Typcal)
- Researchers in training: Nicoly Subtil de Oliveira (Postdoctoral Researcher/PUCPR) and Juliane Furiatti Modesto (Doctoral Candidate/PUCPR).
2. Artificial Intelligence to develop new ingredients for cellular agriculture.
At the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Professor Dr. Carla Forte Maiolino Molento coordinates the RINO project (Smart Routes for New...).
ingredients applied to culture media in cellular agriculture), which combines artificial intelligence and experimental research to identify new plant-based ingredients for culture media used in the production of cultivated meat.
The proposal aims to develop formulations free of animal-derived ingredients using plant waste, by-products, and compounds obtained through biotechnological processes. The expectation is to reduce costs and accelerate the identification of promising ingredients for cellular agriculture.
According to Dr. Carla, new food systems can contribute to nine of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. However, the use of animal-derived inputs represents a technical, economic, and ethical obstacle to food production via animal cell culture. Therefore, her proposal is to prospect new plant-based inputs, including by-products, residues, and their combinations, that are low-cost and highly efficient for use as ingredients in culture media for cellular meat production, while simultaneously developing an Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool specifically aimed at pre-laboratory screening of formulations with a higher probability of success.
The project team is currently being formed, with calls for research grants open at this time – there are two grants, one for a master's degree and one for a doctoral degree. The project will be conducted by the project's own grant recipients in conjunction with the team from the Cellular Zootechnics Laboratory – Zoocel, which includes master's, doctoral, and postdoctoral students from ongoing projects.
3. Development of inputs for fetal bovine serum-free culture media
Coordinated by Dr. Renata Ernlund Freitas de Macedo , Full Professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (PUCPR), the project seeks to develop culture media using sustainable protein inputs, such as hydrolysates of soybean meal and the fungus Rhizopus microsporus , combined with recombinant growth factors.
The goal is to develop scalable formulations that contribute to reducing the costs of cultivated meat production, expanding the use of national inputs, and strengthening solutions aligned with the circular bioeconomy.
The research brings together a multidisciplinary team of experts from PUCPR , UNICAMP , Embrapa Swine and Poultry , the State University of Maringá (UEM), and the startup Biolinker , combining expertise in biotechnology, tissue engineering, microbiology, recombinant proteins, and economics. In addition to technological development, the project aims to train new researchers and strengthen collaboration between universities, public institutions, and companies to accelerate innovation in cellular agriculture.
Project team
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Coordination: Dr. Renata Ernlund Freitas de Macedo (PUCPR)
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Researchers: Dr. Rosana Goldbeck (UNICAMP); Dr. Ana Paula Almeida Bastos (Embrapa Swine and Poultry); Dr. Edvaldo Antonio Ribeiro Rosa (PUCPR); Dr. Mona das Neves Oliveira (Biolinker); Dr. Julyerme Matheus Tonin (UEM).
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Technical and scientific support: Dr. Guilherme Agostinis Ferreira (PUCPR); Dr. Karine Renata Dias Silveira (Embrapa Swine and Poultry); MSc. Bárbara Flaibam (UNICAMP).
4. Mycelium as an ingredient for innovative foods
At the State University of Maringá (UEM), Professor Cristina Giatti Marques de Souza leads a project investigating the use of the mycelium of the mushroom Pholiota adiposa in the production of new foods. In recent years, mycelium, the vegetative structure of filamentous fungi, has aroused increasing interest in the food industry due to its nutritional, functional, and technological properties.
The study will utilize submerged fermentation and agro-industrial waste to develop ingredients with potential application in meat-like foods, exploring the nutritional and technological properties of mycelium as a sustainable alternative to conventional proteins.
Project team
- Coordination: Dr. Cristina Giatti Marques de Souza (UEM)
- Researchers: Dr. Rosane Marina Peralta, Dr. Rafael Castoldi and Dr. Tiago Tognolli de Almeida (UEM)
- Researchers in training: Dr. José Rivaldo dos Santos Filho (Postdoctoral Researcher/UEM) and Ederson Aparecido Gimenes da Rocha (Master's Student/UEM).
Investing in research to strengthen the sector
The program represents an investment in building scientific capabilities in strategic areas for the development of alternative proteins in Brazil, based on 4 carefully selected projects.
By connecting public and philanthropic resources, the initiative strengthens existing skills in Paraná, expands opportunities for researchers, and creates conditions for new knowledge to contribute to innovation in the food industry.
As the demand for more sustainable, resilient, and diverse food systems grows, initiatives like this help bring science, technological development, and opportunities closer together in the country.
This project, like all the work of GFI Brazil, is only possible because there is a global community of supporters who believe in the impact and urgency of transforming the food system.
In a sector still under development, philanthropy plays an essential role: identifying technical bottlenecks, generating and sharing knowledge openly, reducing risks, and creating connections capable of fostering the sector's development.
In this context, GFI Brazil acts as a strategic facilitator, bringing together the technical knowledge, systemic vision, and connections necessary to unite researchers, governments, foundations, companies, startups, and donors around a common agenda. It is this ability to connect the dots that allows for the transformation of resources into research, research into innovation, and innovation into solutions for Brazil and the world.
If you are interested in this initiative and want to learn more about the program with the FAPs, support this project, or find out other ways to contribute to the work of GFI Brazil, please contact us: anar@gfi.org
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