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HELSINKI, Finland – PINC, the venture arm of international food company Paulig, has led a €2.73 million investment round in Swedish AgriTech innovator BlueRedGold, alongside The Food Tech Lab and PolarVentures. The funding will accelerate the company’s development of the world’s first scalable indoor saffron cultivation system, enabled by advanced robotics and AI.
The investment supports Paulig’s ambition to shape the future of food and reinforce its leadership in sustainability, while supporting PINC’s role in backing bold FoodTech solutions with global relevance.
Strategic fit for Paulig ’s flavour expertise and sustainability drive
“Saffron is one of the most culturally significant and economically valuable spices on the planet, but its production is fragile, inconsistent, and facing growing sustainability challenges”, says Erika Hombert, Senior Investment Manager at PINC. “BlueRedGold’s approach brings automation, predictability, and quality to a supply chain we know well, offering a complementary path forward for future production.”
As part of Paulig’s long-term commitment to drive sustainable innovation, PINC seeks startups that push boundaries in agricultural technology, ingredient innovation, and resilient supply models. BlueRedGold exemplifies this strategy with a solution that not only meets commercial demands but does so sustainably and responsibly.
A blueprint for scalable saffron cultivation
BlueRedGold’s system replicates ideal indoor growing conditions, enabling multiple annual cultivation cycles and automating the intricate processes of saffron flower picking and stigma separation. The funding will be used to construct a first-of-its-kind blueprint facility – a modular plant designed for profitability from the start. “This isn’t just a pilot – it’s a blueprint we can multiply globally”, says Erika Hombert. “Demand is already there – not just from food producers, but from the rapidly expanding medical and nutraceutical segments. We’re focused on meeting that need with quality, consistency, and scale.”
