Mö Foods banks US$2.6 million to take Finnish oat cheese beyond the vegan aisle

According to Arctic Startup, Finland’s Mö Foods has raised €2.4 million (US$2.6 million) in a funding round led by Nordic Foodtech VC, as the company looked to scale production of its oat-based cheese alternatives and expand beyond its home market.

Founded in 2017, Mö Foods developed plant-based cheeses made entirely from Finnish oats, using a proprietary production process designed to deliver taste, texture, and meltability comparable to dairy cheese while reducing environmental impact. The company said the new funding would be used to scale manufacturing, further develop its technology platform, and support international expansion across Europe.

• Mö Foods raised €2.4 million (US$2.6 million) in a funding round led by Nordic Foodtech VC.

• The Finnish startup developed cheese alternatives made entirely from locally grown oats using proprietary technology.

• The funding supported scale-up, technology development, and European expansion plans.

Mö Foods was founded by siblings Annamari Jukkola and Marjaana Vuorio, who grew up on a Finnish dairy farm. The company has consistently positioned its products outside the traditional vegan niche, targeting everyday cheese consumers rather than only those seeking dairy-free alternatives.

The company’s cheese alternatives were made from locally sourced Finnish oats and designed to be both meltable and sliceable. Mö said its production process enabled full use of the oat grain, helping minimize waste and lower the overall environmental footprint of the final product.

With the new capital, Mö planned to scale its production technology, grow its team, and prepare for broader European expansion. The company was also advancing a licensing strategy aimed at enabling larger European food producers to adopt its technology, accelerating uptake of oat-based cheese alternatives across the category.

“Our goal at Mö has always been to create foods that reflect how people eat today: good food at a fair price, made responsibly,” Annamari Jukkola, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Mö Foods, said. “Growing up on a dairy farm gave us a respect for how cheese is made, and also for the value people place on it. We’re bringing that same quality and care to a new process, using oats to make something familiar, but lighter on resources. This funding helps us do that at scale.”

The funding came at a time when the plant-based cheese category was under pressure to demonstrate stronger performance beyond early adopters. While dairy cheese remained one of the most resource-intensive food categories globally, Mö argued that oats, among the more sustainable crops grown in Nordic agriculture, offered a practical alternative that could meet both environmental and consumer expectations.

The company emphasized minimal processing and short ingredient lists as part of its approach, aiming to deliver clean-label products that performed well in cooking and everyday use.

Nordic Foodtech VC said Mö’s combination of food science and proprietary technology was central to its investment decision. Mika Kukkurainen, partner at Nordic Foodtech VC, said Mö had shown how local raw materials could be transformed into higher-value food products with international potential.

“Mö is taking unique Finnish oats and their healthy properties to a completely new level,” Kukkurainen said. “Added-value products, with unique technology, are exactly the kind of food knowledge we want to support and scale internationally.”

Mö’s commercial traction has outpaced the wider category in its home market. In 2024, the company reported 88% year-over-year retail sales growth, supported by new product launches and expanded distribution across major Finnish retailers including S-group, K-group, and Lidl Finland. Over the same period, the overall plant-based cheese segment in Finland grew by around 18%.

Beyond retail performance, Mö has received industry recognition for its products, including Finnish Food Innovation of the Year 2024 and Best No-Goat Vegan Cheese 2024 for its Mö Chavre product. The company said the awards reflected its focus on taste and functionality rather than purely ethical positioning.

“This funding marked a turning point for Mö,” Stefan Lindberg, Chairman of the Board at Mö Foods, said. “By combining deep food science with consumer understanding, Mö Foods has built a model that works at a time when much of the category has struggled to do so.”

As Mö prepared for wider European expansion in 2026, the company said it was focused on demonstrating that oat-based cheese could appeal to mainstream consumers at scale, moving plant-based cheese from an alternative choice toward a more everyday option in the chilled aisle.