During the START Summit on Friday, March 25, 2022, Raffael Wohlgensinger has been named “HSG Founder of the Year 2022” on behalf of the company Formo. The award is combined with a prize of 10,000 Swiss francs from the Werner Jackstädt Foundation.
Raffael Wohlgensinger founded the food startup “Formo” together with Dr. Britta Winterberg in 2019. Since the cheese lover was not satisfied with previously available cheese substitutes based on soy or nuts, he began to “recreate” the product in the lab. With “Formo,” he wanted to produce real dairy products without milk from cows, sheep and goats. Formo translates to “I mold, I form” in Latin, and its historical origins is closely linked to ancient Roman cheesemaking traditions. The food tech says the name better reflects its mission to bring consumers authentic, hedonistic European cheeses, but made ethically and sustainably.
Wohlgensinger’s startup Formo, which was initially called Legendairy Foods, does not produce cheese on the usual animal or plant basis, but builds its products with the help of microorganisms. Now, Formo wants to expand its product range, which currently includes soft cheeses such as mozzarella and ricotta, to include aged cheeses such as cheddar and gruyere, as well as expand its fermentation technology. To this end, the Berlin-based startup Formo received $50 million last year, the largest Series A financing for a foodtech in Europe to date.
Raffael Wohlgensinger was co-founder and vice president of the “VeganClub@HSG” during his studies at the University of St.Gallen. Together with Nucleus Capital, he has been supporting new startups in the fields of Synthetic Biology, Climate and Food Tech since 2021. Learn more about Raffael in this interview.
Author: Tabea Bereuther
Date: 4. April 2022