Elian Strengthens the Growth of Its Agrifood Project With COFIDES Joining Its Shareholding Structure Through a €40M Investment

• The capital injection demonstrates institutional support for the company’s model of agrifood autonomy, based on a local, sustainable and innovative supply chain and high-value-added products for European industry.
• Elian’s agro-industrial project at the Port of Barcelona for the production of plant-based protein has exceeded €300 million in cumulative investment since its launch in 2021.

BARCELONA, Spain--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Agribusiness company Elian has welcomed the Spanish Development Financing Company COFIDES into its share capital. With an investment of €40 million, COFIDES becomes a minority shareholder in the company. The transaction accelerates Elian’s project to turn Barcelona into a key hub for plant-based protein production in Europe and represents public recognition of its key role in European food sovereignty.

This public-private partnership was presented today at the Elian plant in the Port of Barcelona and was attended by the Minister of Business and Labour of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Miquel Sàmper, the Director-General of COFIDES, Miguel Tiana, and the CEO and founder of Elian, Andrés Martín.

The investment has been structured through the Co-investment Fund (FOCO), an instrument of indefinite duration created within the framework of the addendum to the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) and managed by COFIDES. The objective of FOCO is to support, on a co-investment basis with foreign investors, projects in strategic sectors for the transformation and competitiveness of Spain, including the innovative agri-food sector.

Consolidation of Elian’s project in Barcelona

The €40 million investment from FOCO will be used to consolidate Elian’s project in Barcelona and support its future growth. Founded in the Catalan capital as a local initiative in January 2021 and currently part of the Viserion International group, which acts as FOCO's co-investor in this transaction, the company is investing more than €300 million in its plant-based protein production facility at the Port of Barcelona. Following the acquisition in 2024 of a benchmark soybean crushing plant in the sector, Elian announced the expansion of its industrial project at the end of 2025, with completion scheduled for early 2028.

With this expansion, which will enable Elian to broaden its range of products, customers and end-use sectors, the plant will reach 90,000 square metres and add more than 100,000 annual tonnes of production capacity for protein derivatives for human food and animal feed, on top of its current 770,000 annual tonnes. The project has been supported by ACCIÓ, the business competitiveness agency of the Department of Business and Labour, through a grant of €2.25 million from the funding line for high-impact business projects.

Elian generated €400 million in revenue in 2025 and has 90 employees. Its facility is one of only three integrated infrastructures of its kind in Europe, making it a strategic asset for reducing dependence on ingredients currently imported from markets such as the United States, China and South America. In addition, it is the world’s first agro-industrial plant with an end-to-end hydrocarbon-free process, from the bean to the final products, thanks to pioneering clean-label oilseed processing technology that guarantees the highest purity standards with the lowest environmental impact.

“COFIDES joining our shareholding structure represents key institutional backing and demonstrates that the Barcelona plant has gone beyond the industrial sphere to become infrastructure of strategic national importance. This alliance enables us to accelerate our roadmap to lead Europe in plant-based protein sovereignty, ensuring that the food industry has access to a local, traceable, highly sustainable supply that is protected from volatility in global supply markets,” says Andrés Martín, CEO and founder of Elian.

For his part, Miguel Tiana, Director-General, stated that “Elian has developed an innovative industrial project with the capacity to contribute to the strengthening of European supply chains in a strategic area such as plant-based protein. With FOCO, we are contributing to the growth of a company that combines sustainability, technology, and long-term vision, while strengthening the competitiveness of the Spanish economy.”

The Minister of Business and Labour, Miquel Sàmper, highlighted the support of the Government of Catalonia for this project since its inception. “Through ACCIÓ, we have supported the project from day one and are pleased to see such a significant investment for the country taking shape.” Sàmper emphasized that “Elian’s investment in Catalonia meets all the requirements to be considered strategic: reindustrialization, the creation of quality jobs in a sector of the future, and an undeniable commitment to sustainability.”

Strategic autonomy for protein in the European Union

The transaction coincides with the European Commission’s publication on 7 July of the Action Plan for the resilience, strategic autonomy and sustainability of protein in the European Union. Its guidelines are fully aligned with Elian’s innovative industrial vision of developing high-quality, sustainable and locally sourced plant-based protein on the continent.

Indeed, the report warns of the high vulnerability of the European agrifood system due to its dependence on external supplies: currently, 94% of the soy used for animal feed in the European Union is imported. The European Union’s objective is to increase the share of domestically produced oilseed and protein-crop protein used for animal feed from 25.8% in 2025 to 35% by 2035. Meeting this challenge will require expanding cultivated acreage, creating new processing plants to transform that production into high-value feed and food, and consolidating local supply chains with traceability back to origin.

Elian’s Barcelona plant not only helps reduce dependence on key ingredients currently sourced from distant markets, but also makes the European market more resilient to potential disruptions in global supply chains. The company is driving its growth by promoting non-GMO soybean cultivation in Catalonia and Aragon, with the goal of reaching 3,000 hectares during 2026. At the same time, it continues to actively seek inorganic growth opportunities through transactions aligned with its strategic vision to scale its sustainable production model.

About Elian Barcelona

Founded in Barcelona by the local entrepreneur Andrés Martín in January 2021 and owned by Viserion International, Elian contributes to the sustainability of the planet by building strategic sustainable plant-based protein infrastructure in Europe to support more sustainable, healthy and high-quality food. Viserion International is engaged in the production and marketing of grains and other feed ingredients and by-products internationally. The combination of Viserion International and Elian provides direct integration with key raw-material origins, industrial expertise, human capital and a global vision. For more information, visit elianbarcelona.com

About COFIDES

COFIDES is a state-owned company that manages Spanish government financial funds, as well as its own resources and those of third-party institutions, with various objectives: supporting the internationalisation of the Spanish economy, attracting foreign investment into strategic sectors in Spain, promoting the impact economy in Spain, and contributing to the development of the countries in which it invests. In addition to the Spanish State, which holds a majority stake, its shareholders include Banco Santander, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), Banco Sabadell and CAF - Development Bank of Latin America.

About Viserion International

Viserion International is a global agricultural merchant based in Boulder, Colorado. Viserion owns and operates assets and commercial offices in the U.S. and Europe, with annual revenue of approximately $4 billion and more than 800 employees. Viserion International and its subsidiaries are backed by a fund managed by Pinnacle Asset Management, an alternative asset management firm focused on global commodities markets. To learn more, please visit www.viserion.com

About Pinnacle Asset Management

Founded in 2003, Pinnacle Asset Management, L.P. is a private, New York-based alternative asset management firm focused on the global commodities markets with approximately $6 billion under management. Pinnacle provides its institutional investor base with exposure to the global commodities markets via physical and financial absolute return strategies and products. Pinnacle is an investment adviser registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission; is a commodity trading adviser and commodity pool operator registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; and is a member of the National Futures Association. For disclaimers regarding SEC/CFTC registration and NFA membership please refer to https://pinnacle-lp.com/disclaimer.