Fudi Protein moves alfalfa Rubisco closer as egg white replacement

Fudi Protein is pushing its alfalfa-derived Rubisco from lab promise toward something food makers can actually build around. The Madison, Wisconsin startup, founded in 2025 by CEO Udi Lazimy, has paired a WeFunder campaign with an institutional round led by Green Boy Group as it works toward pilot production, customer sampling, intellectual property filings and the first steps in regulatory approval for human food use.

That matters because Fudi is not selling Rubisco as a novelty ingredient. The company is pitching a pure, flavorless, white B2B protein made from regenerative alfalfa as a 1:1 replacement for egg protein, aimed at protein beverages, bakery, sports nutrition and dairy alternatives. In practical terms, that puts the ingredient in the same conversation as egg whites, which are prized for foaming, structure and clean-label performance, but are exposed to pricing swings and supply constraints that make them hard to plan around.

Fudi’s argument is that Rubisco can solve both sides of that problem at once. The company says the protein offers a stable alternative to volatile animal protein markets and weaker plant-based options, while also delivering a complete amino-acid profile with all nine essential amino acids. One source says the alfalfa-based ingredient reaches a near-complete PDCAAS score of up to 1.0, with neutral taste and a white color that can simplify formulation in products where flavor and appearance are unforgiving.

The manufacturing path is still early, though. Fudi has targeted a spring 2027 manufacturing launch, which shows how much work remains between a promising ingredient and a reliable commercial supply. Green Boy Group, the backer in the institutional round, is a global supplier of plant-based, non-GMO and organic ingredients founded in 2016, a fit that signals Fudi is trying to line up both capital and supply-chain credibility as it scales beyond extraction.

Fudi is also moving in a field that already has one visible precedent. Leaft Foods in New Zealand has started commercial production of Leaf Rubisco Protein from alfalfa and is trialing it in baking as an egg replacement. Leaft CEO Ross Milne has said Rubisco’s emulsifying and gelling properties mirror egg protein functionality in bakery applications, a useful marker for how this category may win: not by sounding futuristic, but by behaving enough like egg white to disappear into the recipe.