Fonterra Venture has partnered with German active nutrition start-up foodspring by investing in its parent company Goodminton.

The companies have not disclosed the financial details of the investment.

Goodminton is a German holding company, which focuses on sports and lifestyle nutrition brands, operating primarily through one of its group companies, foodspring.

With the new partnership, Fonterra intends to tap into the active nutrition consumer segment, which is valued at $200bn on a global scale.

The deal will be completed after obtaining approval from the German Federal Cartel Office.

Fonterra Velocity and Innovation chief operating officer Judith Swales said: “Fonterra is a global leader in protein and high-value, advanced ingredients, so it’s only right we should strive to be at the forefront of the active nutrition market.

“The strategic partnership with foodspring will accelerate our progress in the category by giving us direct access to a new consumer segment. This investment is a first for Fonterra and supports our strategy to grow in high-value categories.

“The strategic partnership with foodspring will accelerate our progress in the category by giving us direct access to a new consumer segment.”

“foodspring’s impressive growth trajectory is supported by its strong direct to consumer channel and digital nutrition and wellbeing coach. By leveraging this technology and innovative business model, we’ll be able to share the goodness of dairy with more consumers around the world.”

The investment in the German start-up is expected to create new business and market development opportunities for the dairy co-operative.

based in Berlin, foodspring offers a wide range of product portfolio within protein shakes and organic superfoods, which are distributed in the Asian and European markets.

foodspring co-founder and CEO Tobias Schüle said: “We are pleased to have gained the support of one of the largest and most innovative dairy companies, which is very aligned with our business.

“We look forward to welcoming Fonterra Ventures on-board and the synergies we can capture from our partnership.”