BFH student wins "First Ventures" promotion contribution

17.07.2019 Michael Whyte, MA student at the BFH, won a project contribution in the third "First Ventures" tender within the framework of the BREF funding programme of the Gebert Rüf Foundation.

Michael Whyte impressed the jury with his business project Fermeat. He will be supported with a project contribution of CHF 150,000.00 and an individual business training and coaching programme.

Fermeat Project

The project “Fermeat” aims to convert soybean okara into a textured, flavorsome vegan meat-analogue with promising versatility. Okara is the fibrous remnant of soymilk and tofu production, though contains an attractive protein, fat and fibre profile. The project goal is to improve, standardize, upscale and stabilize the production processes involved, capturing the understanding and thereby pushing the entire concept into the position of being ready to manufacture at small-scale enterprise level whilst simultaneously building first business and customer relationships. The core of the technological toolbox lies in the method of okara preparation and subsequent solid-state fermentation, forming the basis of production which will be taken to the level of manufacture and retail sale – consequently becoming a worthy contributor to the soy product value chain in Switzerland.

Further winners:

MA Cindy Weber, HES-SO, LifeCellAgglutination project, CHF 150,000
BA Fabian Jacobs, HSLU, Service Charge Settlement 4.0 project, CHF 150,000

We are proud of the innovative strength of our students and congratulate Michael Whyte on his success. We wish him great enthusiasm, perseverance and success for the next steps of his project.

Category: Studies