The Venture Codex

Participated · Seed · Apr 2023

Aqua Cultured Foods develops whole‑muscle seafood alternatives — calamari, shrimp, scallops, tuna and whitefish filets — plus minced fillings for dumplings, ravioli and sushi. The company uses proprietary mycoprotein (fungi) fermentation processes with no animal inputs or genetic modification and says its products are optimized to be consumed raw with textures close to conventional seafood. Aqua is Chicago‑based and recently acquired a 5,000‑square‑foot food‑grade pilot facility and expects to begin manufacturing first products (tuna, scallops and ground shrimp) by early summer. The team says a 450‑square‑foot grow space could produce between 5,000 and 10,000 pounds of product, supporting decentralized manufacturing for future market expansion. Planned uses of the new funding include hiring, expanding restaurant and foodservice introductions, and running chef pop‑ups to gauge demand. Financially, the company announced a $5.5M seed round and has raised just over $8M to date. Aqua Cultured Foods makes animal-free seafood analogs using a microbial fermentation process and a proprietary strain of fungi. The company produces a “whole-grown” protein it says requires no extra processing or genetic modification, yielding a more robust nutritional profile than many plant-based seafood options. Its inherently flavorless base can be fine-tuned late in the growth process to create textures and flavors for products such as tuna, whitefish, calamari, shrimp, and scallops. Founded in 2020 and based in Chicago, Aqua Cultured Foods raised $2.1 million in pre-seed funding to support rapid growth. The startup is targeting 2022 for commercial releases, initially via limited-time foodservice offerings with retail planned later, and reports early sales interest and strategic partnerships. The new capital will be used to build the team and accelerate R&D to iterate on texture, shape, nutritional value, and flavor to bring products closer to animal-derived versions.

Participated · Seed · Feb 2023

Michroma uses precision fermentation and filamentous fungi as “biofactories” to produce natural food colorants and, later, plant-based flavorings. Its first product, Red+, is a red colorant engineered to be temperature-resistant and stable across the food pH spectrum, surviving pasteurization, cooking and extrusion. Red+ has been prototyped with large food companies and can also be used to color cultivated meat. The company plans to expand its palette from warm colors (orange, yellow) toward blue and white while selling flavorings in combination with its colors. Michroma is negotiating with suppliers and intends to submit petitions to the U.S. FDA and the European Food Safety Authority; the regulatory process is expected to take at least two years. The startup currently has about 15 employees and plans to grow to 35, funded in part by recent seed financing that brought its total venture capital to $7.4M. Michroma develops sustainable, vegan, fungus-based natural colorants intended to replace synthetic petroleum-derived dyes and insect-derived cochineal (red 80). Founded in early 2019 in Argentina, the startup moved to San Francisco in September and is participating in IndieBio's accelerator. Its platform uses a GRAS fungal strain grown in bioreactors to produce intense, stable red, orange, and yellow pigments while reducing water use and carbon footprint compared with crop-derived colorants. The company argues vegetable-based alternatives like beetroot extract underperform on pH and temperature stability and impart flavor, making them difficult for industry use. Michroma says it already can effectively produce red, orange and yellow and is working to optimize and scale production while developing green and blue variants. Financially, Michroma has received early backing and plans further fundraising to accelerate scale-up.

Participated · Series A · Sep 2021

Plantible Foods produces functional ingredients derived from Lemna, also known as water lentils, and its flagship product Rubi Protein is a complete plant protein containing all nine essential amino acids and vitamin B12. The company operates a commercial production facility in Eldorado, Texas (Ranchito facility) and plans to expand that site by adding up to 50 commercial greenhouses. The planned expansion is expected to raise annual production capacity to more than 1,000 metric tons. Plantible says the increase in capacity will help meet rising customer demand and support additional jobs, contractors and suppliers in Schleicher County. Since establishing its commercial facility, the company has invested in local operations, engineering and research roles. The company’s recent financing includes a $25 million USDA OneRD Business & Industry Guaranteed Loan closed with X-Caliber Rural Capital.

Participated · Equity · Jul 2021

Shiok Meats is a Singapore-based cell-cultured seafood startup developing cultivated crustaceans such as shrimp, lobster, crab, prawn, and crayfish. The company says it will use recent funds to advance R&D and build a state-of-the-art production facility in Singapore. Management expects the first production facility to be operational and a commercial product launched by 2023. Shiok Meats has partnered with Japanese cellular ag startup IntegriCulture to explore scaling up production of cultured shrimp. The company has also secured a grant under Enterprise Singapore’s Startup SG Tech Proof-of-Value scheme to accelerate development and commercialization. To date the startup has raised $30 million in total funding and is planning to close a full Series B round sometime next year. Shiok Meats is a Singapore-based cell-based crustacean meat company founded in August 2018 by stem cell scientists Dr. Sandhya Sriram and Dr. Ka Yi Ling. Its flagship product is an anticipated cell-based shrimp positioned as a clean, traceable alternative to farmed shrimp. The company plans to produce frozen cell-based shrimp meat for dumplings and other shrimp dishes from a commercial pilot plant and aims to launch a minced shrimp product in 2022. Beyond minced shrimp, Shiok plans to develop shrimp flavouring paste and powder, fully formed 3D shrimp, and cell-based lobster and crab in the coming years. The company raised $12.6M in a Series A to support building its pilot plant and initial commercial production. Shiok Meats is a Singapore-based alternative proteins startup. The company develops products in the alternative-protein space. It has raised $3 million in a bridge financing round. The funding will be used to set up its first manufacturing plant in Singapore. Investors named in the round include Agronomics, VegInvest, Impact Venture and UAE’s Mindshift Capital Fund. Shiok Meats is a Singapore-based company focused on producing shrimp from cultured cells rather than conventional aquaculture. The company’s core product effort is cell-based shrimp intended for commercial food production. Shiok Meats completed a $4.6 million seed funding round to carry out research on its cell-based shrimp platform. The funding is intended to support research and preparations to target mass production within the next couple of years. The fundraising was reported by Forbes. Shiok Meats is developing cultured seafood products, beginning with a shrimp substitute and a minced shrimp option for dumplings. Co-founders Sandhya Sriram and Ka Yi Ling are stem-cell scientists who left Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research to found the company. Early tests of their cultured shrimp have been successful, and the team estimates production costs at roughly $5,000 per kilogram. They plan to expand from shrimp to higher-end crustaceans such as crabs and lobsters over time. The company aims to bring its first product to market in three to five years. Initial commercial targets are Asia‑Pacific consumers, beginning in Singapore and expanding to Hong Kong, India and Australia.

Participated · Series B · Jul 2021

Aleph Farms grows beef steaks from non‑genetically engineered cells isolated from a living cow, producing whole cuts without harming animals. The company released the world’s first cultivated steak in December 2018 and a cultivated ribeye in 2021. Co‑founded in 2017 by Didier Toubia, The Kitchen Hub of the Strauss Group, and Professor Shulamit Levenberg, Aleph Farms is headquartered in Israel. Its global investor network includes L Catterton, DisruptAD (ADQ), BRF, Thai Union and Cargill, and it recently announced an investment from Leonardo DiCaprio, who joined its advisory board. They cite an independent Life Cycle Analysis projecting cultivated beef could reduce climate impact by 92%, air pollution by 93%, use 95% less land and 78% less water versus industrial beef production. Aleph Farms positions its product to deliver familiar meat qualities while eliminating antibiotics and reducing risks of pathogens through an automated, sterile manufacturing process. Aleph Farms grows beef steaks from non-genetically engineered cells isolated from a living cow, producing meat without harming animals and with a reduced environmental impact. The company was co-founded in 2017 by Didier Toubia, The Kitchen Hub of the Strauss Group, and Professor Shulamit Levenberg from the Technion. Aleph is based in Rehovot, Israel. It raised $105M in a Series B to scale up manufacturing and expand operations internationally ahead of an initial market launch planned for 2022. Near-term milestones include scaling up manufacturing, growing operations internationally, and expanding its product lines and technology platform. The company is working with regulatory agencies on its plans for market entry. Aleph Farms produces real meat cuts grown from cow cells and operates a slaughter-free process to make steaks in large, clean bio-farm facilities similar to dairy operations. Its non-GMO technology, co-developed with Professor Shulamit Levenberg of the Technion, isolates the cells responsible for muscle regeneration and grows them outside the animal to form the same muscle tissue typical of steaks. The company intends to use recent funding to accelerate product development and to transform its prototype into a commercial product. Aleph was co-founded by The Kitchen Hub and Didier Toubia, who serves as CEO. The company is based in Ashdod, Israel and has positioned its platform for scale-up in controlled bio-farm environments.