Participated · Seed · Mar 2019

Planetarians develops whole-cut plant-based proteins using upcycled ingredients such as sunflower oil cake and brewer’s yeast. Founded in 2013 by Aleh Manchuliantsau and chef Max Barnthouse, the company pivoted from nutritional drinks to plant-based "vegan meat" and is launching ribs as its first product using only two FDA GRAS ingredients. Its approach captures benefits of solid-state fermentation without building fermentation infrastructure by sourcing brewer’s yeast as a byproduct from AB InBev. Planetarians has verified its technology at industrial scale, tested products with hotels, restaurants and schools, and secured its first commercial contract. The company says its product is priced on par with chicken and claims a carbon footprint 50x better than animal meat and 9x better than other plant-based meats. Planetarians plans to use the new funding to build a pilot facility (as small as 3,000 sq ft), ramp up sales, bring a second production line online in October, and work with AB InBev to place lines across breweries; it estimates $3 million would launch a full line producing up to 15 million pounds per year. The recent financing is a Seed II that raised about $6.7 million in total, including a $6M tranche. PLANETARIANS, based in San Mateo, CA, has developed a one-step technology that sterilizes, destroys anti-nutrients, and functionalizes fiber to upcycle spent sunflower into a high-protein, high-fiber flour. The company says the resulting flour delivers three-times the protein and two-times the fiber of wheat flour at the same cost. Its ingredient can replace about 30% of existing flour in recipes without changing texture or flavor, and PLANETARIANS has been conducting product trials with Barilla’s R&D pilot plant in Italy. It has also worked with Italian CPG Amadori to create flexitarian meatballs and ragù, and has expanded tested applications to snacks, pasta, baked goods, meat products, breakfast items, dips, and purees. The company reported that chips made from its upcycled ingredients posted 69% month-to-month growth on Amazon. PLANETARIANS plans to use the recent funding to continue customer trials and broaden its range of product applications.

Participated · Seed · Sep 2018

ReGrained is a San Francisco-based mission-driven ingredient platform and packaged goods company led by CEO Daniel Kurzrock. The company leverages patent-pending processing technology to convert food manufacturing byproducts into nutritious ingredients and consumer products. Over the past year it launched its first consumer product line, SuperGrain+ bars, and introduced first-to-market compostable packaging. ReGrained closed a $2.5M seed financing and plans to use the funds to scale its proprietary processing technology and commercialize its ingredient business. The financing and recent product launches position the company to expand both its ingredient platform and packaged-goods presence.