British biotechnology firm Mycofeast acquired New Zealand dairy protein startup Daisy Lab for an undisclosed sum in October 2026. The buyout secures Daisy Lab’s precision fermentation platform.
The deal transfers Daisy Lab’s Auckland operations and patent pipeline to the UK group. Daisy Lab’s scientific team will stay intact.
Daisy Lab uses genetically engineered yeast to produce animal-free dairy proteins, including whey, casein, beta-lactoglobulin and lactoferrin. The company estimates its system cuts greenhouse gas emissions by up to 97 per cent compared with conventional dairy farming. Its most advanced project centres on high-yielding bovine and human lactoferrin. The iron-binding glycoprotein is used in infant nutrition, immune supplements and pharmaceuticals.
All laboratory staff and founders will keep their Auckland positions. Co-founders Irina Miller, Nikki Freed and Emily McIsaac will take broader operational roles across the Mycofeast organisation.
Development work from the New Zealand team will link with Evolutia Bio, Mycofeast’s research arm in California. The team will also draw on the parent firm’s industrial processing plants. Daisy Lab had initially engaged Mycofeast as an ingredient customer and commercial partner before talks became a full buyout.
“There are no layoffs associated with the acquisition. Mycofeast wanted both the technology and people,” Daisy Lab co-founder and CEO Irina Miller said.
Extracting traditional lactoferrin requires thousands of litres of bovine milk to yield a single kilogram of purified protein. That scarcity keeps market prices between $600 and $2,000 per kilogram. It is one of the most expensive dairy fractions on global commodity markets.
Precision fermentation bypasses cows entirely by brewing identical proteins inside stainless-steel bioreactors.
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