The first thing you notice is the color, a translucent coral pink that catches the light like a slice of salmon belly. The second is the texture, a firm yet yielding bite that parts cleanly under a chopstick. This is not fish. It is a precise arrangement of soy, pea, and potato proteins, bound with algae extracts and shaped by a process Bluana Foods calls High Nutrients, High Moisture Injection. In a world of plant-based burgers and nuggets, the ambition is to replicate not just the protein, but the specific, delicate experience of sashimi [The Recursive, ~2023].
The wedge is the sushi bar
For founder Călin Iacob, the path to vegan fish began with real fish. He previously launched VALEPUTNA, a brand of trout specialties, giving him a front-row seat to the pressures of traditional aquaculture and overfishing [The Recursive, ~2023]. Bluana’s bet is that a growing cohort of flexitarians and environmentally conscious foodies are ready for a premium alternative that doesn’t ask them to sacrifice the ritual of a sushi dinner. The company is targeting the most demanding use case first: the raw, unadorned center of the plate where texture and mouthfeel are everything. If it works there, the thinking goes, applications in poke bowls, tartares, and cooked dishes become simpler derivatives. The €15 billion plant-based market provides the macro tailwind, but Bluana is chasing a specific cultural moment where sustainability meets gourmet dining [Ventures Thrive, ~2023].
A technical lead from EPFL
While Iacob brings the culinary and commercial vision from Romania, the company’s technical development is led by Marco Iotti, who is listed as CTO and attended the prestigious École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland [F6S, 2026] [ContactOut, 2026]. This pairing suggests an attempt to bridge food science with molecular gastronomy. The proprietary HNHMI technology is the claimed differentiator, a patented process designed to inject moisture and nutrients to mimic the flaky, moist consistency of raw fish [F6S, 2026]. The company’s participation in the S3E Charge accelerator in 2023 provided an early stage validation and network within the European foodtech ecosystem [South3E, Aug 2023].
| Role | Name | Background |
|---|---|---|
| Founder | Călin Iacob | Previously launched VALEPUTNA trout brand [The Recursive, ~2023] |
| Technical Lead / CTO | Marco Iotti | Attended EPFL; technical lead since 2022 [F6S, 2026] [ContactOut, 2026] |
The risks of a niche focus
The road for plant-based seafood is notoriously difficult, littered with startups that struggled to achieve the right flavor and texture at a competitive price. Bluana operates with limited disclosed capital, having raised an angel round of approximately $125,000 [LinkedIn, Unknown]. This places it in a different league than better-funded European peers like Austria’s Revo Foods or Germany’s BettaF!sh, or the resource-heavy initiatives from giants like Nestlé’s Vuna. The go-to-market motion is also unproven. The company lists a direct-to-consumer model, but no named customers, deployments, or detailed traction metrics are publicly available. Success will hinge on a few key challenges:
- Capital efficiency. Can the team advance its R&D and initial production on a relatively lean angel round, or will it need to secure significant follow-on funding soon?
- Taste over thesis. The product must win on organoleptic merit alone, not just its sustainability story, in a category where consumer palates are unforgiving.
- Distribution reach. Breaking into the high-end restaurant and specialty retail channels in Europe requires relationships and sales muscle that are yet to be demonstrated.
The next twelve months
The coming year will be about moving from prototype to proof. The key signals to watch will be a named restaurant or retail partnership, a clearer picture of production capacity, and any subsequent funding round that would fuel a commercial push. The company’s backers, including Loyal VC, have placed a small, early bet on the team’s combined background in food and tech [Loyal VC, Unknown].
Every food innovation startup is ultimately answering a cultural question. For Bluana Foods, the question is not whether people will eat plant-based protein, but whether they will choose it for a moment of pure, intentional pleasure. The product is a quiet argument that the future of fine dining doesn’t have to come from the sea. It can be assembled, with care, from proteins grown in the soil, designed to dissolve on the tongue with the same satisfying silence as the original.
Sources
- [The Recursive, ~2023] Bluana Foods Founder on How He Created a Winning Vegan Fish | https://therecursive.com/bluana-foods-food-tech-vegan-fish/
- [Ventures Thrive, ~2023] Bluana - Ventures Thrive | https://www.venturesthrive.eu/startups/bluana
- [F6S, 2026] Marco Iotti | CTO at Bluana Foods | F6S Member Profile | https://www.f6s.com/member/marcoiotti
- [ContactOut, 2026] Marco Iotti Email & Phone Number | Yunnan Agricultural University - ContactOut | https://contactout.com/Marco-Iotti-29731558
- [South3E, Aug 2023] Bluana Foods: the Romanian startup that has developed a chef-made plant-based sashimi | https://south3e.eu/2023/08/02/bluana-foods-the-romanian-startup-that-has-developed-a-chef-made-plant-based-sashimi/
- [LinkedIn, Unknown] Bluana Foods receives a $125,000 Investment | https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/bluana-foods-receives-125000-investment-25-angel-gain-zakharyan
- [Loyal VC, Unknown] BLUANA FOODS | https://www.loyal.vc/portfolio/bluana-foods