By Jonathan Seidman
Five alt dairy innovators have emerged as finalists for the 2024 KiwiNet Research Commercialisation Awards.
The Kiwi Innovation Network (KiwiNet) is a consortium of 19 universities, Crown Research Institutes, an Independent Research Organisation and a Crown Entity established to boost commercial outcomes from publicly funded research by helping to transform scientific discoveries into new products and services.
The KiwiNet Awards recognise new technologies, businesses, and real-world solutions emerging from research from NZ’s universities, Crown Research Institutes, and other research organisations.
Entepreneur Emma Arvidson was named a finalist for the Momentum Student Entrepreneur Award for a high-protein oat milk powder she developed. Arvidson is a chemical formulation design specialist currently pursuing her master’s in product innovation at at Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury (UC). Her start-up, Teiny, successfully secured the $20,000 KiwiNet PreSeed Accelerator Funding (PSAF) and $5,000 funding from the King’s Trust He Kākano, a seed fund for young entrepreneurs aged 17-30 years.
Meanwhile, legume-based dairy start-up ANDFOODS and its individual team members are candidates for multiple awards. These included ANDFOODS CTO Dr Arup Nag being named a finalist for the Sprout Agritech Breakthrough Innovator for. The start-up is also a finalist for the PwC Breakthrough Project Award.
What’s more, ANDFOODS co-founder and Distinguished Professor Harjinder Singh of the Riddet Institute is up for the BNZ Researcher Entrepreneur award for his record of translating scientific breakthroughs into tangible products.
ANDFOODS – a Massey Ventures spin-out specialising in the production of dairy-free creams, milk and powders from legume seeds – successfully raised $2.7 million in an oversubscribed investment round in 2024. Developed through years of research at the Riddet Institute hosted at Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University, the company’s patent-pending technology transforms legume seeds into low carbon, allergen free dairy alternatives.
Auckland scientist and Daisy Lab COO Emily McIsaac has also been named a finalist for a Sprout Agritech Breakthrough Innovator Award for her precision fermentation-created dairy-identical proteins, which the start-up claims replicate the taste and texture of cow’s milk.
Precision fermentation refers to programming microorganisms to produce specific functional ingredients — such as dairy proteins or fats — without the use of animals.
In March 2023, Daisy Lab closed a $1.5 million seed round to scale up its microbial whey protein production.
Judge panel and CEO of Orbis Diagnostics and Partner at Pacific Channel, Cather Simpson, said, “The extraordinary talent the KiwiNet Awards continue to uncover shows we’re creating a vibrant research commercialisation ecosystem that enables people to make a difference and shape a better future for us all.”
Judge panel and Deputy Secretary Labour, Science, and Enterprise at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Nic Blakeley, said, “Commercialisation of research is vital to ensuring more people have access to new knowledge and advancements of technology. The finalists present impressive solutions to some key challenges our country faces, which provides benefits to all New Zealand.”
Other finalists include Rotorua-based ZealaFoam, which produces a 100% plant-based alternative to polystyrene.
