HSG Founder Of The Year

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A unique, innovative, sustainable, and successful startup of a HSG-affiliate is decorated every year with the Jackstädt-Award “HSG Founder of the Year”.

Founder Of The Year

Founder Of The Year 2022: Raffael Wohlgensinger

Raffael holds both a Bachelor and a Master of Arts degree from the University of St. Gallen. During his studies, he developed a great interest in nutrition and sustainability topics, which is why he co-founded the Vegan Club at HSG.

After graduation, he first joined a VC fund before founding the foodtech company “Formo” (previously called Legendairy Foods), which operates in the fast-growing market of alternative proteins. Together with his team, he uses synthetic biology and food science to develop animal-free dairy products using nature-identical milk proteins from precision fermentation.

In September 2021, Formo raised a record European FoodTech Series-A round of $50 million. They are currently building a pilot factory in Germany and plan to expand their team from to 80 employees by the end of 2022. The first cheese products will be available in 2023.

While there is still a very long way to go before mass production, we believe Formo will shape the future of dairy and help consumers in Europe make their food consumption more sustainable.