FRENCH-GERMAN STARTUP SMEY LAUNCHES AI-POWERED “NEOBANK OF YEASTS” TO REVOLUTIONIZE CULTIVATED OIL DEVELOPMENT

In a breakthrough for sustainable food and cosmetic innovation, French-German biotech company SMEY has unveiled NOY – the Neobank of Yeasts, the world’s first AI-powered digital databank of yeast fatty acid profiles. The platform promises to slash cultivated oil research and development timelines from 24 months to just 30 days, opening new possibilities for brands seeking sustainable alternatives to cocoa, shea, and palm butter.

The cultivated oil sector is poised for rapid growth as consumer goods companies face mounting pressure to move away from deforestation-linked ingredients. With the European Union’s Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) set to take effect, importers of tropical oils and butters must prove their supply chains are deforestation-free or face fines of up to 4% of global turnover. SMEY’s innovation positions it as a key player in helping brands adapt quickly — and compliantly.

From Years of Engineering to 30 Days of Precision Matching

Traditional cultivated oil development relies on genetically modifying yeast to produce specific oils — a process that can take up to two years. SMEY’s NOY replaces this with a precision-matching system: instead of altering yeast DNA, it searches a proprietary strain database to find yeast that naturally produces the desired oil composition. This approach dramatically reduces development time while preserving biodiversity.

Using NOY, SMEY has already created:

  • Cultivated Cocoa Butter (cCB) with 35% stearic acid, matching the performance of traditional cocoa butter in food applications.

  • Cultivated High-Oleic Butter (cHOB) for cosmetics, offering a smooth, non-greasy texture with superior stability and skin efficacy.

AI Meets Fermentation: The Neobank of Yeasts

At the heart of NOY is a physical library of over 1,000 yeast strains, seamlessly integrated with SMEY.AI — a proprietary computational platform that maps genomic, metabolic, and fermentation data. By analyzing product requirements like melting point, oxidative stability, or texture, SMEY.AI can pinpoint the ideal strain in hours rather than weeks.

“With NOY, we’re not trying to hack biology — we’re trying to understand it,” says Viktor Sartakov-Korzhov, founder of SMEY. “Many solutions already exist in nature, hidden in yeast strains with perfect oil compositions. Our mission is to discover, digitize, and share them — blending biology with computation.”

Sustainable Oils for a Climate-Resilient Future

Produced locally in Europe, SMEY’s cultivated oils offer full traceability, minimal environmental impact, and zero deforestation footprint. By eliminating the need for tropical farmland and reducing water use, SMEY provides global FMCG companies with a compliant, climate-friendly path forward.

SMEY’s flagship cultivated oils set new industry benchmarks:

  • cHOB: A new category of cultivated oil with a unique fatty acid profile, delivering superior stability and sensory performance for cosmetics and personal care.

  • cCB: A direct cultivated cocoa butter alternative, matching the taste and functionality of its conventional counterpart without the environmental and ethical costs.

About SMEY

SMEY is an AI-driven biotech company headquartered in Paris, with an R&D center in Munich. Specializing in cultivated oil innovation, SMEY’s mission is to help the food, cosmetics, and industrial sectors transition to sustainable, deforestation-free ingredients. Its proprietary Neobank of Yeasts and SMEY.AI platform enable rapid, tailored oil production for a cleaner, more resilient supply chain.

Website: www.smey.cc
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SMEY will be present at Future FoodTech London to showcase its breakthrough cultivated oil platform, don’t miss the opportunity to meet them at the leading foodtech congress in Europe.