MicroLub raises $10m to cut fat in processed food by up to 75 per cent
Northern Gritstone leads a follow-on round for the University of Leeds spinout whose protein-and-water ingredient reproduces what fat does in the mouth.
MicroLub, a University of Leeds spinout working on fat reduction in processed food, announced a $10 million follow-on round on 17 September 2026. Northern Gritstone led. NPIF II – PXN Equity Finance, managed by PXN Ventures as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II, took part alongside the company's existing investors.
The product is a patented protein-based ingredient. Small protein structures are coated with polysaccharides to form microgels that carry water and reproduce the lubrication fat provides between surfaces in the mouth. The company states that manufacturers can cut fat and calorie content by up to 75 per cent while holding taste and texture, raise the protein content of the same product, and take emulsifiers and thickeners out of the recipe.
The company was founded in 2023 out of the School of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Leeds by Professor Anwesha Sarkar, and is led by chief executive David Peters. It raised a £3.5 million seed in October 2024, of which Northern Gritstone put in £1.8 million. This round makes Northern Gritstone a repeat lead.
Proceeds go to international scale-up in the United States and Asia, team growth, converting existing customer trials into commercial agreements, and further development of the ingredient. “MicroLub is addressing one of the food industry's biggest scientific and commercial challenges,” said Duncan Johnson, chief executive of Northern Gritstone.
Why it matters for AgTech founders: this round is priced on trials, not on tonnes. The ingredient works and the food manufacturers are testing it; what the $10 million buys is the conversion of those trials into signed supply, and both the company and its lead investor say so plainly. That gap between a technical yes and a purchase order is where most ingredient and biologicals companies stall, and it runs longer than the plan allows, because the customer is reformulating a product line rather than buying a sample. Two things carry across. First, a platform that drops into an existing recipe clears procurement far faster than one that asks the buyer to change the process, which is worth weighing for anyone whose input needs a new applicator or a new agronomic protocol. Second, the signal in this round is Northern Gritstone leading twice: for a spinout, a regional investor who already holds the asset and understands the science is usually the fastest source of the second cheque, and is worth cultivating well before it is needed.
MicroLub raises $10m to cut fat in processed food by up to 75 per cent
Northern Gritstone leads a follow-on round for the University of Leeds spinout whose protein-and-water ingredient reproduces what fat does in the mouth.
MicroLub, a University of Leeds spinout working on fat reduction in processed food, announced a $10 million follow-on round on 17 September 2026. Northern Gritstone led. NPIF II – PXN Equity Finance, managed by PXN Ventures as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II, took part alongside the company's existing investors.
The product is a patented protein-based ingredient. Small protein structures are coated with polysaccharides to form microgels that carry water and reproduce the lubrication fat provides between surfaces in the mouth. The company states that manufacturers can cut fat and calorie content by up to 75 per cent while holding taste and texture, raise the protein content of the same product, and take emulsifiers and thickeners out of the recipe.
The company was founded in 2023 out of the School of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Leeds by Professor Anwesha Sarkar, and is led by chief executive David Peters. It raised a £3.5 million seed in October 2024, of which Northern Gritstone put in £1.8 million. This round makes Northern Gritstone a repeat lead.
Proceeds go to international scale-up in the United States and Asia, team growth, converting existing customer trials into commercial agreements, and further development of the ingredient. “MicroLub is addressing one of the food industry's biggest scientific and commercial challenges,” said Duncan Johnson, chief executive of Northern Gritstone.
Why it matters for AgTech founders: this round is priced on trials, not on tonnes. The ingredient works and the food manufacturers are testing it; what the $10 million buys is the conversion of those trials into signed supply, and both the company and its lead investor say so plainly. That gap between a technical yes and a purchase order is where most ingredient and biologicals companies stall, and it runs longer than the plan allows, because the customer is reformulating a product line rather than buying a sample. Two things carry across. First, a platform that drops into an existing recipe clears procurement far faster than one that asks the buyer to change the process, which is worth weighing for anyone whose input needs a new applicator or a new agronomic protocol. Second, the signal in this round is Northern Gritstone leading twice: for a spinout, a regional investor who already holds the asset and understands the science is usually the fastest source of the second cheque, and is worth cultivating well before it is needed.
