VeCollal is a Belgian startup that has developed a groundbreaking vegan alternative to animal collagen supplements for use in nutraceuticals, beauty products, and functional foods.
Collagen is normally animal-derived, but this makes it unsuitable for vegans and can sometimes cause allergies — particularly when it comes to marine collagen. Animal collagen also has a different amino acid profile to that found in humans. VeCollal claims its product exactly matches the human collagen profile.
The product was launched less than 12 months ago; nonetheless, VeCollal has seen important growth and uptake. The collagen alternative has already been used by UK supplement brand Feel, which is endorsed by former Girls Aloud singer Cheryl. Another brand, Revive Collagen, has used VeCollal to produce what is claimed to be the world’s first liquid vegan collagen. The company is currently raising investments and hopes to expand into India, the US, and beyond next year.
Throughout the globe, several companies are working to develop alternatives to conventional animal collagen. Jellatech and Aleph Farms have both developed cultivated collagen, while Geltor is making vegan collagen using precision fermentation. Provenance Bio has created a similar product using a process called micro-comparmentilisation.
“We really are at the centre of four major trends/growth markets: collagen, veganism, sustainability, and nutraceuticals — all of which are explosively growing markets and trends,” said Tony Van Campen, founder and managing director of VeCollal.
“There has been no real solution that caters to all these trends simultaneously — until now. But what really sets us apart from other offers on the market is our solid scientific background: our patent-pending formulation, developed by biomaterials expert Dr. Josué Jimenez, has been proven to be effective in three clinical trials to date, with a large-scale clinical trial on the way.”
