NUCAPS receives support from SODENA to accelerate its strategic plan and international expansion
At Nucaps we have been developing and manufacturing a new category of functional ingredients since 2017 that are incorporated into foods and are capable of producing beneficial effects on health or reducing the risk of pathologies. With our goal of contributing to improving health through nutrition, SODENA is now joining the international financing round that Nucaps has opened, with a participatory loan of 150,000 euros.
Added to this financial commitment for the capital increase are the current partners: CNTA, the University of Navarra and the UN I+D+i Tech transfer Fund managed by CLAVE Capital, which reinforce their contribution and position. The operation represents a total of 475,000 euros, which will continue to increase as the open financing round progresses.
The Minister of Industry, Ecological Transition and Business Digital and president of Sodena, Mikel Irujo, visited the company’s facilities in the CEIN Nursery (Noáin) to learn first-hand about the growth expectations of the company that he has rated “an innovative example, with pioneering business and product lines in the healthy eating sector and fully aligned with Navarra’s Smart Specialization Strategy.”
New and good foods thanks to new ingredients unthinkable until now
Nucaps’ patented technology allows the development of functional ingredients with unique characteristics to improve the metabolism and the immune system and contribute to reducing diseases such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, or cardiovascular disorders.
On the one hand, Nucaps as a technological partner, facilitates the development of innovative, differential, and personalized functional foods for the food industry. And, on the other hand, Nucaps is a supplier of ingredients with its own range of products. For example, NuCla, with great acceptance in the market, is a natural alternative for salt reduction that allows the quantity to be reduced by up to 40%, without affecting the flavor. Likewise, its innovation roadmap foresees the development and launch in 2024 of NuGar. This sweet flavor-enhancing ingredient allows you to maintain enjoyment, but with lower sugar intake, and Glucocaps, a food protein that helps reduce cholesterol and fat accumulation. or its range of microencapsulated probiotics to incorporate into dairy products, beverages, bakery, prepared foods, vegan products, etc.
Making these ingredients accessible to the entire market will be the focus of the use of funds from the financing round, for which the creation of several new qualified jobs is also expected; Nucaps has recently received an award for job creation for having multiplied its workforce almost six times in just over 2 years.
Also, to facilitate growth and guarantee supply in the next three years, Nucaps plans to increase its production capacity in Europe, LATAM, and Asia, following the model already started with the recent start of ingredient production with an industrial partner in Canada: “We must take advantage of the technical and commercial successes achieved and the beginning of industrial-scale manufacturing of our ingredients to grow in our mission: we are part of the new society and we positively impact it by improving health through nutrition. We will focus on enhancing the production and sale of ingredients in addition to continuing to develop our technological platform to solve new challenges in the global food and personalized nutrition market,” explains Mariano Oto, CEO of the company.
About SODENA
SODENA, Navarra Development Society, S.L. is the financial instrument of the Government of Navarra to capture and develop business projects of added value for Navarra, supporting them financially, accompanying and facilitating their location and putting in their network of contacts, as well as to coordinate the design and implementation of the Smart Specialization Strategy for regional Sustainability. All of this contributes to regional development and the creation of quality employment.
Its portfolio is made up of more than 120 companies that employ more than 8,500 people. It represents financial support of 194.5 million euros that supports the plans to promote ‘innovative startups’ and the plans to support the growth and consolidation of these Navarrese companies. Sodena has implemented a Sustainability and Responsible Investment Policy in its normal operations, is a signatory of UNPRI (United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment), and is a member and partner of the United Nations Global Compact.
