What It Takes to Fund Single-Cell Protein Production

Unstable supply and future shortages of wild forage fish, which provide key ingredients in aquafeed such as fishmeal, pose major risks to the aquaculture sector. As the demand for fish continues to grow, sustaining aquaculture production will require 1.8 million tonnes of alternative ingredients. As a safe, sustainable, and protein-rich alternative to fishmeal, single-cell proteins (SCPs) are well-positioned to meet the nutritional needs of farmed fish, but current production volumes are insufficient to readily meet the aquaculture sector’s rising demand for protein. Scaling SCPs will require substantial capital, but their promising unit economics, familiar production systems, and sustainability benefits make them a promising investment. 

Maximising impact and return requires investment in large-scale facilities 

Small-scale (~20,000 MT/year) single-cell protein (SCP) production facilities are highly capital-intensive, requiring roughly USD 10,000–12,000/MT of capital. Regardless of production volume, complex and costly infrastructure, including multi-stage gas handling, compression, and fermentation, must be installed and cannot be proportionally reduced at lower throughputs. This fixed-cost burden stops SCPs from producing sufficient volumes to meet the needs of aquafeed formulators and leaves them trapped in the “missing middle, that is too capital-intensive for venture capital and too nascent to be considered infrastructure, and what climate investors say, holds back feed innovation. 

But SCP’s show very promising unit economics at scale. Larger facilities (~100,000 MT/year) can reduce upfront capital investments by 75% to below USD 3,000/MT, maximising both return and impact. Still, these larger facilities require substantial upfront capital, and further expansion will depend on unique funding models. 

Industrial joint ventures as an ideal emerging investment model

Industrial joint ventures, sometimes with additional government support, are emerging as an ideal investment model for SCPs. In 2020, Calysta and Adisseo formed a joint venture, called Calysseo, to construct a 20,000 MT SCP production facility in Chongqing with plans to expand to 80,000 MT. More recently, Unibio formed a joint venture with the Saudi Industrial Investment Group (SIIG) to build an initial 50,000 MT SCP production facility with plans to scale to 300,000 MT by 2030. These joint ventures not only spread risk, but they also benefit from strategic locations in Asia and the Middle East. 

Where investment flows and why

Recent joint ventures in China and Saudi Arabia highlight the importance of geography for investments in SCPs. China is an ideal location for SCP producers to easily access the world’s largest aquaculture market. Supportive state policies prioritising food security and low-cost gas make countries in the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia, interested in supporting SCP development. In contrast, the EU is an important hub for innovation, but progress at scale is slow due to regulatory constraints. The common thread is that investments in SCPs benefit from supportive state policies, especially those related to food independence and security, as well as co-location with low-cost feedstocks. 

The long-term value of SCPs in aquafeed

SCPs are an emerging feed ingredient with the potential to replace meaningful amounts of fishmeal in the long term. 

1. Approaching price parity with fishmeal. 

Reported SCP prices are already within the historical fishmeal range (~USD 1,500/MT). Further improvements to improve price competitiveness and ensure reliable supply will only enhance the economic benefits of SCPs.  

2. Produced in established safety frameworks and familiar production systems.

Despite the novelty of some SCPs in aquafeed, several species of yeast and fungi have a long history of safe use in animal feed. Further, industrial fermentation is a well-established technology across the food, feed, and biotechnology sectors. Several SCP products (e.g. bacterial proteins) have received regulatory approval in major markets, and feeding trials across species demonstrate consistent safety, digestibility, and performance outcomes.

3. Decoupled from marine supply chains and risks. 

SCPs are completely decoupled from marine supply chains, providing a safe, nutritional alternative while minimising supply chain risks conventionally associated with marine ingredients like fishmeal. Further, SCPs can have comparable emissions to fishmeal especially when grown on industrial sidestreams or agricultural byproducts. And although they use more land and water than fishmeal, they use much less than other conventional land-based sources of protein, such as soybean meal. 

Moving forward

SCP’s show very promising unit economics at scale, but expanding production and adoption in the long-term will require more capital from investors to build large-scale production facilities and accelerate commercial deployment. Industrial-scale joint venture models are a promising approach to providing this support, as demonstrated by Calysta's Chongqing facility and Unibio's planned Saudi Arabia project. Committed offtake agreements from aquafeed producers can also help to reduce risk and increase adoption. The combination of increased investment and long-term offtake agreements can help SCPs fulfil their potential as a nutritious, sustainable, and scalable fishmeal alternative. 

Read our 2026 State of the Industry Report on Single-Cell Proteins for the full investment landscape, regional breakdown, and operating model analysis.