Planet A Foods produces ChoViva, a cocoa-free, lower-carbon chocolate alternative made from sunflower seeds and other locally grown ingredients such as oats. The company currently produces about 2,000 tons of ChoViva per year and plans to scale capacity to over 15,000 tons (around a 7.5x increase) as it industrializes production. It supplies roughly 20 customers so far, including Lambertz, Lindt, Rewe Group and Deutsche Bahn, and targets mass-market snacking and confectionary applications rather than premium chocolate. Planet A claims a carbon footprint up to 80% lower for its vegan ChoViva and estimates large potential CO2 savings if bulk chocolate production switches away from cocoa. The team is developing a bio-identical cocoa-butter alternative via fermentation and exploring replacements for palm oil and other specialty fats, though some precision-fermentation versions will require novel-food approval in Europe. The company is a Y Combinator alum and is planning international expansion, including new production capacity in the U.S. and launches in the U.K. and France in early 2025. Planet A Foods develops ChoViva, a cocoa-free chocolate ingredient made via fermentation of locally sourced ingredients such as oats and sunflower seeds, available in milk, semi-sweet, and white varieties. ChoViva delivers a melt-in-the-mouth texture and full-bodied chocolate flavor while containing up to 30% less sugar. The company supplies food manufacturers and brands including Griesson-de Beukelaer, Peter Kölln, Lufthansa, REWE, and has been used by Lindt in a vegan chocolate product. Planet A Foods has scaled production to 750 kilograms of ChoViva per hour and employs a 50-person team in Germany. It expects to hit eight-figure revenue by the end of 2024 and plans international expansion beginning in the U.K., then other European markets, Asia, and the U.S. The company also intends to extend its fermentation platform to additional plant-based ingredients with further product launches expected in Q1 2024. QOA has developed a fermentation process that uses natural byproducts and proprietary microbacteria to create a vegan product that mimics the texture and flavor of chocolate without artificial additives. The company was founded this year by Drs. Sara and Maximilian Marquart, a food chemist and a material scientist, and was part of Y Combinator this year. QOA’s product aims to address sustainability and supply risks in the cocoa industry, including threats from pathogens, climate change, deforestation and child labor. The firm says its fermentation process will enable scaling by 2035 and expects to price products at parity with or below traditional chocolate. QOA already has a product test kit with nine options, expects a first product on the market in 2022, and is in talks with initial B2B customers. The new $6M seed funding will support building a pilot production facility in Munich to complement one in Switzerland, hiring, and preparation for a Series A to fund larger production lines.

Total raised

$51M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Series B

Latest activity

Dec 2024