Conversation with Maya Sapir-Mir and Ido Eliashar of PoLoPo

Conversation with Maya Sapir-Mir and Ido Eliashar of PoLoPo

What came first, the chicken or the egg? For PoLoPo, the answer is… potato. They are growing things like ovalbumin (found in egg white) in potatoes, through a technology called molecular farming. I recently spoke with PoLoPo’s CEO and Co-Founder, Dr. Maya Sapir-Mir, and VP of Business Development, Ido Eliashar, to learn more.

FTW: First of all, Maya, what does PoLoPo even mean?

Maya: “In Hebrew, ‘Po’ means ‘here,’ and ‘Lo Po’ means ‘not here’. We grow animal proteins in plants, so we made the ‘not here’ to be ‘here’.”

FTW: Thanks! Maya and Ido, can you both tell me a bit about your background?

Maya: “I have a Ph.D. in plant biology, with expertise in metabolic engineering of plants. I met Raya (Liberman-Aloni), my co-founder (and PoLoPo’s CTO), during my Ph.D. studies 17 years ago — we worked side by side. After my postdoc, I worked in the cannabis industry, but I had a passion to do something more substantial with my expertise. The idea for PoLoPo brewed for years. Raya and I established PoLoPo in the beginning of 2022.”

Ido: “I got into the alt protein space six years ago, mainly from an activist point of view. I was working at the largest non-profit org to promote plant-based products in Israel, Vegan Friendly. I then did business development for the precision dairy startup Remilk, valorizing the biomass from the side streams. I then worked as a consultant with several startups and VCs as an advisor, before meeting PoLoPo at HackSummit in Lausanne in 2023. I first joined the company as a business advisor, and it was love at first sight. I didn’t know much about molecular farming, but once I met with Maya and Raya, visited the lab, saw the work, and truly understood how we can use plants to make recombinant proteins, my mind was blown away. I gradually increased my involvement in the company, and now I’m VP of Business Development.

FTW: What problem are you solving, and for who?

Maya: “When we started, we wanted to feed the growing population. Potatoes grow everywhere in the world. We hypothesized that if we elevate the protein content inside potatoes, we could help feed the population.

We also understood that for the food industry, animal welfare isn’t the first priority. But when we talk about egg protein, the problem is real. Due to the avian flu and other things that cause volatile supply and price variability, many food manufacturers don’t really want to use eggs. Our potential clients want to hedge their bets. They have a purely financial motive to move away from eggs.

They try to plan inventory, and it’s tricky for them because of the volatility. They know their demand. They don’t know their supply. But they are looking to secure prices and quantities of egg white protein. Our solution eliminates the reliance on animals for protein production and introduces a stable supply for one of the most volatile products out there.”

FTW: What protein are we talking about here?

Maya: “Ovalbumin. It’s the main protein inside the egg white. So it’s not the yolk. The food industry is already using egg whites in powder form. So it’s easy for them to switch to our product.”

FTW: And how do you actually produce egg white in a potato?

Maya: “Without touching a single egg or chicken, we genetically engineer the plants, inserting genes into the plant genome. We know what we insert and the mechanism of action. We know what this makes the plant do. 

Although started with egg protein, our platform can grow almost any other desired target protein. Once grown in the potato, we can extract the protein and use it as a functional ingredient. The potato plant grows normally and is not affected by the egg protein.”

FTW: So what other proteins do you grow, beyond ovalbumin?

Maya: “Well, for example, the potato protein itself, the patatin, has great functionality. It’s allergy-friendly, high-quality (PDCAAS of 0.99), with all essential amino acids. We’re not a one-trick pony. We can bring different proteins to different industries, by using potatoes.

Current market prices of functional patatin are high, $100+ per kg (i.e. $220+ per lb). It’s cost-prohibitive to extract and dry patatin with existing food processing infrastructure, but our potato plants produce such high levels of patatin that suddenly, it becomes economically viable.”

FTW: Why potatoes, of all crops?

Maya: “It’s a cheap crop to grow, and it grows in almost any climate around the world. The potato infrastructure exists; the industry knows how to grow and store potatoes and extract metabolites from them. It’s all there. We plug into an existing infrastructure.”

Ido: “ Potatoes are also non-allergenic. Some molecular farming companies combine two allergens, for example, dairy proteins and soy proteins. That’s tricky from a regulatory point of view. Soy has many advantages, such as a naturally high protein concentration. We think it can also be a disadvantage as these proteins can interfere with the DSP of the target protein and make the process more expensive, at least compared to potatoes.

Another important consideration is consumer perception. The general mindset of the public on soy could be better. People don’t consider soy a quality protein source; they consider it an allergen with off-flavors. We want to avoid that. Potatoes are found in every household. It’s a crop that’s loved worldwide.”

FTW: What impact do you hope to have over time?

Maya: “We will not be able to supply all the egg protein the world needs. But we truly hbelieve we can switch from using animals to plants as biofactories. Molecular farming can change the way we eat. Eventually, this industry can give us better crops and better foods that are rich in protein and metabolites. It can change how we eat. I’m a huge fan of GMOs. There’s no food security without GMOs. We have to make the world understand that we know the potential risks with GMOs, we can avoid them, and that the real advantages are so much bigger.”

FTW: What’s the regulatory process like?

Maya: “We’re aiming to grow and produce in the U.S. In terms of growing GM potatoes, we should get approval from the USDA in a few months to grow the potatoes in the US.  The next step is to get GRAS approval, and we’re talking to the FDA about commercializing. Patatin has a relatively fast and easy way to market, as it is the natural potato protein grown in its natural environment.

However, for ovalbumin, we introduce an egg protein into potatoes, which of course, isn’t naturally found in them. The molecular farming industry is working with the FDA to solve those regulatory obstacles.”

FTW: What does the product look like?

Maya: “Our product will be a powder. It’s easier to ship, has a longer shelf life, and has the lowest contamination risk. And we’ll sell this powder B2B to food manufacturers that need egg white protein.”

Ido: “Many companies approach us for using our ingredients to improve their alternative meat products. They want the patatin for their products, as a binder, and for gelling and emulsification, to improve the juiciness. But current prices for functional patatin are high.”

FTW: Are you going after a big market?

Maya: “The general egg protein market was $26B in 2018, and is expected to reach almost $39B by 2026. It’s a huge market — and most of it is the egg white protein.”

FTW: Tell me a bit about your team.

Maya: “We’re 9 people in our team. Raya, Maya, and Ido in management; 3 brilliant scientists leading the R&D, and 3 assistants.”

Ido: “We also have an awesome advisory team. From regulatory to engineering, downstream processing, agronomists, and scientists. All of it.”

FTW: How are you funded?

Maya: “We did a pre-seed, closing $2.3M in 2022/2023., and we’re pleased to work with FoodLabs, our lead investor in the pre-seed — they’re helpful in so many ways and are always there for us.”

FTW: What are your asks from the FoodTech Weekly community, or anyone else reading this?

Ido: “We’re looking for partners in the potato industry, especially in the U.S. and we want to speak to strategic partners that can bring commercial agreements. We’d especially love to meet more U.S. investors, as that’s where we aim to commercialize.”

FTW: How can people get in touch with you?

Ido: “Via our LinkedIn profiles, that’s the easiest. Or via our website.”