Motif FoodWorks is a Boston-based food technology company led by CEO Jonathan McIntyre that aims to make plant-based foods taste better and be more nutritious. Originally spun out of Ginkgo Bioworks in 2019, the company develops ingredients and technologies for plant-based cheese and meat applications. It has secured licensing partnerships with the University of Guelph and Coasun Inc. for technologies that create melting and stretching characteristics in plant-based cheeses, and for fat alternatives that marbleize plant-based meats. The company recently opened a 10,600 sq. ft. office and lab in Boston's Seaport neighborhood. Motif raised $226M in a Series B to expand research and development, scale and commercialize its technologies, and grow its people and facilities footprint. The funding is intended to accelerate commercialization of its product portfolio and support expansion efforts. Motif Ingredients, now operating as Motif FoodWorks, is an ingredients innovation company focused on discovering ingredients that improve human health and animal welfare while reducing the environmental impact of animal agriculture. The company is based in Boston, MA. It announced $27.5M in funding and a rebrand to Motif FoodWorks. With the new funding, Motif plans to add to and accelerate its product pipeline, expand academic collaborations across molecular food science disciplines, scale its science and regulatory staff, and deepen its research and development efforts. The company recently added three senior management hires: Janet Collins as Head of Regulatory, Government and Industry Affairs; Julie Post-Smith as Director of Business Development; and Morgan Keim as Business Development Manager. Jon McIntyre serves as CEO. Motif Ingredients is a Ginkgo Bioworks spinoff focused on developing proteins via biotechnology and fermentation to serve as meat and dairy replacements. The company aims to produce affordable, sustainable ingredients for food and beverage brands, chefs, and consumers. Ginkgo will retain a minority stake and provide engineering, design, and initial R&D support on roughly six to nine product lines. Motif will pay Ginkgo cost plus a slight overhead for ingredients and manufacturing services. Jonathan McIntyre, a longtime food-and-beverage R&D veteran, is leading the company. Motif began forming around February–March 2018 and plans to bring its first products to market within the next two years. The company has raised financing to accelerate development and commercialization.

Total raised

$344M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Series B

Latest activity

Jun 2021