We're making dairy better. For you, for animals and for the planet.

 
Team fermify in Austria

About us

Who we are and what drives us.

We are a bunch of crazy scientists coming up with new ways of obtaining casein without the need for milk.

We're skipping the cow and going straight for the cheese.

So if science and technical innovation, daily problem-solving and re-shaping the future of food science, all accompanied by dry engineering humour and Monday night football sounds good to you, you'll fit right in with us!

Even our micro-organisms are excited!

No cow, no cheese — no way? With the help of our friendly micro-organisms, cow-free casein is possible.

Sound enticing? Join us! Let's save the planet together and enjoy great cheese while we're at it.

 
Fermify future cheese Mission
Team fermify - Maximiliano from Chile
Team fermify - Maria from Argentina

“In Fermify, the collaboration between top-tier scientists and engineers fosters an environment of continuous learning and growth. The spirit of cooperation and teamwork towards our shared goal creates a sense of unity and purpose.

Most importantly, the company's mission of producing sustainable, animal welfare-focused alternatives is deeply rewarding, and witnessing Fermify's growth each day creates excitement for the future.”

– Maria from Argentina, Upstream Team

“Having transitioned from Chile to the US before joining Fermify in Austria, I’ve learned that continuous learning and pushing boundaries are non-negotiable. Fermify provides a stimulating environment that allows me to creatively innovate in the field of bioprocess development, control and optimization. Together, we tackle cutting-edge challenges in the biotechnological production, recovery and formulation of caseins.”

– Maximiliano from Chile, Digitalization Team

“Working in the field of precision fermentation for food applications provides me with the opportunity to work in a novel and emerging field of food science and technology. Fermify brings together people from different backgrounds with unique expertise. This allows me to learn about areas outside my expertise, such as strain engineering, upstream and downstream processing.

In my role, I have the chance to shape the food team and lead the research and product development of the future generation of cheeses. This is still a work in progress, but we now have the in-house expertise to demonstrate the functionality of novel caseins.”

– Belinda from Indonesia, Food Team

Team fermify - Stefan from Austria
Team fermify - Belinda from Indonesia

“Fermify is a melting pot of passionate and intelligent people. Working with them on a novel biotechnological process for protein production is extremely motivating. The flexible and fast-paced environment here at fermify gives a lot of space to develop professionally and personally. As in every good start-up, we also have a fruit bowl and delicious coffee to fuels us through the day.”

– Stefan from Austria, Upstream Team

The Team

 

Meet the divisions!

Team Fermify has 30 team-members from 12 countries total. 25 of them have a scientific degree.

We are perfectly gender diversified, with a 50/50 ratio between women and men. That means we're not only dead serious about science, but also about making Fermify an excellent place to work and grow.

 
  • The Strain Engineering team is utilizing various molecular biology methods to empower microorganisms in optimally producing our proteins of interest.

  • The USP team is responsible for the propagation of our casein-producing microorganisms, therefore, we use the knowledge of all departments to design and improve the continuous fermentations from Lab-Scale to Production.

  • The downstream processing team is developing unique solutions to reliably extract, efficiently purify and safely formulate our final product.

  • The analytics team is making the invisible visible and providing eyes to all our bioprocesses here at Fermify to follow the product from start to end.

  • The digitalization team aims to create and deploy an end-to-end digital twin for casein biomanufacturing, by leveraging current data and advanced control strategies to deliver our clients a reliable, robust, and automated bioprocess solution at any scale.

  • The food team aims to unveil the gap in techno-functional properties between native bovine and novel caseins derived from precision fermentation, and subsequently propose innovative routes to harness the novel caseins for producing the next generation of cheeses.

 

A few words from one of our founders

“My great passions in life are animal rights advocacy and science and it was clear for me that I want to dedicate my life to combining both.

Developing technology that provides alternatives to cow-derived products is a promising step towards creating more sustainable and ethical solutions. By focusing on creating fully scalable technology that allows food companies, ingredient suppliers and dairies to produce an ingredient that offers the same comfort and quality as traditional animal-based products, we can help shift consumer behaviour towards more compassionate choices.”

– Eva Sommer

Eva Sommer - CEO at fermify

Eva Sommer
CEO

Christoph Herwig - Chief Technologist at fermify

Christoph Herwig
Chief Technologist

Open Positions

 
We have no open positions at the moment.
Feel free to set an alert on our LinkedIn page.
 

We are however always looking for beautiful minds to join our mission. Feel free to send us an open application.

Questions?

You have a question about working with us, an open position or your application? Feel free to contact Kate via hello@fermify.org