The timing, if nothing else, is hard to ignore.
Just as avian flu outbreaks sent conventional egg prices into a frenzy earlier this year, The EVERY Company—a California startup that brews animal-free egg proteins in fermentation tanks—closed on $55 million in fresh capital. The November 4 funding arrives alongside a milestone the company has been working toward for years: nationwide distribution at Walmart stores for products containing its lab-grown proteins.
Whether that timing represents shrewd opportunism or fortunate coincidence depends on whom you ask. Either way, it's a moment EVERY has been building toward since its 2015 launch as Clara Foods, back when precision fermentation was still viewed with equal parts fascination and skepticism by the food industry.
Based in Daly City, EVERY uses microorganisms to produce ovalbumin—the protein that gives eggs their functional magic in everything from meringues to mayonnaise. The company doesn't sell directly to consumers. Instead, it operates behind the scenes, supplying food manufacturers with proteins it brands as OvoPro and OvoBoost. Now, with $55 million from a syndicate led by McWin Capital Partners' Food Tech Fund, EVERY says it plans to double manufacturing capacity and make a more aggressive play for a slice of the $270 billion global egg market.
The round—which the company describes as a "first close," suggesting more may come later this year—brings EVERY's total raised to roughly $288 million, according to investor sources. McWin, which also co-led the startup's $175 million Series C back in December 2021, was joined by Main Sequence, Bloom8, TO.VC, Minerva Foods, Grosvenor Food & Ag/AgTech, New Agrarian, and SOSV.
Manufacturing at Scale, Finally
For years, the knock on precision fermentation companies was simple: Could they actually manufacture ingredients at volumes and costs that made commercial sense? EVERY's answer—though it took longer than some investors might have hoped—is starting to materialize.
The company says it's now "consistently manufacturing metric tons of product every month at commercial scale" through manufacturing partners. One of those relationships, a fermentation partnership with AB InBev's ZX Ventures BioBrew unit, hit key production milestones back in 2022. The new capital will fund a doubling of capacity with existing partners and bring additional manufacturing online, though EVERY declined to specify locations or partners beyond confirming a recent $2 million Department of Defense contract to evaluate a U.S. production site.
As for Walmart, EVERY confirmed the nationwide rollout but wouldn't say which brands or products actually contain its proteins. That's typical for B2B ingredient suppliers, who often let their customers control messaging. Still, the Walmart distribution represents a validation point—perhaps more than the founders expected when they first pitched investors on chicken-free eggs nearly a decade ago.
Beyond retail, EVERY has signed deals with Unilever's The Vegetarian Butcher, Spanish omelet maker Grupo Palacios, and Colombia's Grupo Nutresa. The company is also targeting high-volume bakery applications, where egg whites function as binders and leavening agents.
Volatile Markets, Alternative Proteins
The conventional egg market hasn't had an easy run lately. Avian influenza outbreaks hammered poultry operations through 2024 and into early 2025, sending wholesale egg prices soaring and prompting the USDA to announce a $1 billion strategy in February to combat the disease and stabilize supply. For EVERY, that volatility amounts to a pitch: fermentation-made proteins don't catch bird flu.
Whether food manufacturers—and ultimately consumers—buy that argument at scale remains an open question. Alternative protein companies have faced headwinds recently as venture capital cooled and some high-profile startups struggled to gain traction. EVERY's approach differs from plant-based egg replacements in that its proteins are molecularly identical to those from chickens, which the company argues makes them superior for demanding applications like baking.
Still, challenges loom. EVERY hired CFO Evan Geisert in January, a signal that the company is preparing for closer financial scrutiny as it works toward profitability. The startup didn't offer a timeline for reaching breakeven, though it characterized the new funding as supporting "its path to profitability."
There's also the matter of intellectual property. Finnish competitor Onego Bio filed declaratory judgment actions in September seeking to invalidate EVERY's U.S. patent on recombinant ovalbumin production. Those cases are pending in Wisconsin and Delaware federal courts—a reminder that even as precision fermentation matures, the competitive landscape remains unsettled.
For now, though, EVERY is focused on scaling. With Walmart distribution live and manufacturing capacity expanding, the company is making its biggest bet yet that the world is ready for eggs without chickens. Whether the market agrees—and whether the economics ultimately pencil out—will likely determine if this $55 million proves to be a turning point or just another waypoint on a longer, more uncertain journey.
